It didn’t have time to move as it hit twenty-five percent. The Stone Raiders stopped attacking.
The juggernaut sliced and diced its way through any of its remaining comrades that had allowed it to regain its feet.
“Focus on the other undead!” Josh called out. He looked to Jake, who rubbed his hands in anticipation.
***
Undead started to climb up the buildings, but they were too slow to catch the Stone Raiders. In the distance, through the low light and flickering mage lights, Deia saw the grand library and the mass of tombstones at its front entrance.
She heard a whistling in the distance as spears slammed into the dome-like structure in the center of the library. The spears were destroyed by a heavy Mana barrier. More and more spears rained down from the heavens. Their runes glowed as they hit the barrier.
Steve leapt free of the buildings, the Air creations on his back doing their best to extend the distance he traveled.
Stone Raiders followed him off the building, jumping off five-story buildings with complete faith in Suzy, as her creations carried them on toward the library.
Deia leaped; her attached Air creation guided her flight through the air.
A scream tore through the air, making people shudder and break out into a cold sweat.
“Keep moving!” Deia yelled as a murderous aura filled with killing intent seemed to erupt throughout the Aleph College’s grounds
***
“They dare! They dare to kill my juggernaut!” The area around the Arch Lich started to decay as Dark mana spread over twenty feet, looking like black flames, destroying anything in their path.
“I will show them their place as my test subjects! I will turn them into bones of malice and despair through decades of torture!”
The Arch Lich floated through an open doorway, his flames destroying the balcony below.
He waved his hand; a bone reaver stepped out of the library he had been studying in. The Arch Lich sat on the creature.
It looked like a mix between a wolf and a cheetah.
Its legs and body was made for speed, with blades for limbs and a wolf skull for a head.
Its bones weren’t yellow but black from the Arch Lich using the creature and his Dark affinity and aura corrupting the bones further.
All around the Arch Lich Skeleton creatures stepped out of the building, their bones clacking against the surfaces as they let out tortured screams.
This was the Arch Lich’s true strength, his skeleton army. One thousand strong creatures that he had sunk his power and time into making. They were the greatest of his weapons.
“Let us go greet your new comrades!” The Arch Lich rasped, his leathery old face twisted in crazed anger as his eyes glowed with a smoky green light that would make any shirk away in fear.
The skeletons raised their weapon, their screeching and pained cheers consoling the Arch Lich as his reaver rushed forwards.
The other skeletons mounted other reavers or faster members of the skeleton army, or simply ran forward.
He sent commands to his undead forces attacking the Stone Raiders. They charged forwards letting out their cries while also making a path for their Master Skeleton Army.
***
“What the hell?” Dwayne muttered as the undead were now surging forth.
“They’re making a push! Keep them back!” Josh yelled out.
The Stone Raiders’ crude defenses lit up with magical spells, destruction staffs, arrows and bolts.
“To the walls!” Kim cried out, a note of panic in her voice.
Don’t let what happened with the spiders happen here! Josh half thought, half prayed.
Anyone that could use a weapon got up to the walls.
People that were missing limbs grabbed what they could, dragging themselves to an opening.
There was no time for orders. People yelled out to one another, telling where undead were concentrating, pointing out higher level mobs that were an issue.
Most of the creatures were just reanimated dead, making them magical constructs, creatures that contained Mana, fighting against the barrier.
However, there were also soulbound undead, similar to draugr. These were creatures that had their souls forcibly molded and attached to their bodies.
They made it to the wall, clawing at it or trying to climb it.
They rushed into the spike pit with abandon even as Dark mages increased its depth and width. The undead filled the pit around the defenses, creating bridges for their fellows.
“We’ve got something approaching in the distance!’ A scout called out, waypointing something. Josh cut off an undead’s arms, dropping them down to the writhing mass of undead below.
He looked to where the waypoint was, using a far sight spell.
“What the hell?” Josh looked at the oncoming army of skeletons and bone creations; each and every one of the creatures gave off a corrupting aura similar to the bone juggernauts.
He felt a dominating presence among them.
His eyes locked with twin green glowing orbs of malice.
Josh felt his heart quiver as the Arch Lich seemed to look in his very soul and promise him unimaginable pain.
Josh was hit from the side, breaking eye contact.
Josh shook his head, a sense of dread filling him. He cut down another creature trying to scale the wall, dodging out of reach of a rotting vine.
“The Arch Lich is coming!” Josh yelled to the rest of the guild as he focused on dealing with the scaling creatures. The undead now covered the pit, turning it into a flat ground for them to cross.
The second bone juggernaut was getting closer. It was making good progress and its Health stayed the same as the Stone Raiders were focused on the undead at their walls.
Just then, several spears made of shadows slammed into the Mana barrier, making it quiver and turn an angry red.
More and more spears smashed into the barrier, coloring it darker and darker.
The spears’ aura made Josh quiver in fear.
If they make it through the barrier, they’ll blow the wall apart. I need to save the POEs; us Players can come back.
“POEs to the center of the camp! Support from there!” Josh called out.
If it was any other time, the POE might argue about being treated different than the Players, but they understood. Right now, they could split their guildmates attention when they couldn’t spare it.
The undead parted for their master and his skeleton army.
Josh glanced at the army; all of the skeletons and bone creations were of a high level, each exuding an aura of decay and maliciousness.
A truly massive Dark spear crashed into the barrier, two, then three followed afterwards, making the barrier shake dangerously.
Cracks formed as the barrier strained against the Arch Lich. Those that were near the runes for the Mana barrier pushed their power into it. The wounded that couldn’t move altered their Stone Raider amulets to supply power to the Mana barrier. Even if they died, any bit of power they could put into helping the Stone Raiders get victory, they would give it.
It held for just a few more minutes.
It shattered under the constant and unrelenting barrage. Where the spears had impacted they had killed all of the undead around.
Spears careened off into the sky before the Arch Lich adjusted to fire more at the walls.
“Get back!” Josh yelled, turning as he saw a Dark spear appear around the Arch Lich and race towards the wall.
The world seemed to turn quiet as Josh saw some people trying to jump away from the section of wall that the spear was aimed at. Others were too caught up in battle to notice the spear or others’ warnings.
The black spear crashed into the wall.
As it struck, the wall exploded like a bomb, people being thrown like ragdolls. Undead on the wall or near it were thrown back, killed by their master’s spell.
Stone Raiders were killed by the explosion or torn apart by the raging
Dark Mana that made up the spear, others were crushed or hit by the flying debris.
“Get down from the walls!” Dwayne called out. As time resumed its normal pace, blood fell from a cut on Dwayne’s forehead.
The Stone Raiders camp was chaos as everyone tried to flee the walls as spears seemed to come in from every direction.
Josh leapt from the wall, glancing back at the Arch Lich that was now halfway through his undead army. Darkness seemed to cling to him like a cloak as a sea of darklings raced out of it, racing towards the defenses as fast as the spears that were cracking his defenses.
The darklings rushed through the undead, turning them to ash as they floated through the openings in the walls.
“Darklings!” Kim called out. “Blessed land!”
A golden light grew over the area that the Stone Raiders were pulling back to. Their strength had been cut down by a third and they were in a space half the size with the walls exploding, being pummeled into gravel as undead surged forwards in the new openings. Even if their fellows were cut down by the Arch Lich’s magic, they continued their forward charge.
The darklings cried out as they entered the blessed land area of effect spell. The undead screamed, their dark bodies falling apart among their weakest members.
“Mages, focus on blessed land!” Josh yelled out.
“Darklings are only affected by magical weapons!” Lucy reminded everyone.
“With me!” Dwayne yelled, charging forward the few feet to the undead that had entered the blessed land, his sword and shield moving, taking down a darkling and an undead without pausing his charge.
Then, the skeleton army arrived.
Josh rushed forwards with his twin daggers, dispatching anything that came at him.
There was a commotion behind the undead as the skeleton army appeared.
They came through the openings in the walls, cutting down anything in their path.
Undead that were too slow to move felt the sharpened bones of their master’s personal army.
The Arch Lich let out a screech, rising over the Stone Raider’s broken walls.
Josh swore that the creature looked pleased with the chaos and death it saw.
It held out its hand, dark streams of light streaking out to crash into the blessed land’s spell formation.
Spells and weapons were aimed at the Arch Lich, but it didn’t even pay attention as they were eaten up by the Dark Mana that surged around it.
Its power was like a crushing weight on the Stone Raiders.
There was no way that they could survive against everything that was attacking them.
It’s up to Party Zero now. The thought brought with it a sense of calm as Josh attacked with abandon.
He knew that he would probably die, so he was going to use everything he had to give those to either side of him a chance. He would die to give his guild mates the chance to live.
“Stone Raiders!” Josh yelled. His cry seemed to rally the guild.
“Stone Raiders!” They cried out defiantly, even in the faces of creatures that had come back from the land of the dead.
Bone creations covered in serrated bone blades meant to tear and rip moved over the walls.
Instead of recoiling in fear, the Stone Raiders surged forwards, eager to greet these new opponents.
***
Dave dropped to the ground in a roll. He came up brandishing a sword and shield. A savage smile crossed his lips. When he’d been healed back to full Health, he’d glanced at his notifications to find that he had made it to Master level 1 for two handed.
It gave him the ability to claim the class Weapons Master, which gave him plus 20 to Vitality, plus 10 to Endurance, and plus 15 to Strength and Agility.
He laughed as he slammed the undead out of his way. Every hit with his sword put the undead to permanent rest.
They stormed through the front doors. What had been hard for Party Zero before was now easy for the fifty Stone Raiders fresh from their respawn. The Stone Raiders moved into a protective circle. Malsour’s walls had been broken down in most places, but it didn’t matter now.
Malsour nodded to Dave.
Dave looked up at the ceiling, making a square of metal in the roof above them. He destroyed it but the conjured item had cut right through the floor. It dropped to the ground as Dave continued to conjure boxes and then destroy them in the floors above.
It continued up for a dozen floors.
Dave dropped his arms, now thoroughly drained. “It’s done!” he yelled.
“Pull back! Malsour, we ready?” Deia asked. The circle of Stone Raiders became smaller as they moved toward Dave and Malsour.
“As it will ever be,” Malsour said. What looked like a gazebo made from metal seemed to grow out of the ground.
“Everyone on!” Deia yelled.
The Stone Raiders jumped on the thirty-by-thirty metal box. Walls erected around them as they shot upward and through the holes Dave had created in the ceilings above.
Sweat seemed to pour from Malsour’s face. He hadn’t yet recovered from the last time he had been in the library, only three hours ago.
The box stopped and the Stone Raiders poured out, finding themselves among bookshelves in a massive room.
Heavy footsteps could be heard, converging on their position.
“Dave, go find it. Steve, Anna, Induca, cover him!” Deia yelled.
The sources of the loud noises appeared, three lumbering bone lords.
The Stone Raiders organized themselves, used to the dance between themselves and higher-leveled targets.
Dave and the others grouped together.
“Bye, dickheads!” Dave waved at the bone lords as Malsour pushed them through the library, closer to where they needed to be.
Dave shook his head as he got his bearings and started to run. He felt bad about leaving his guild mates, but he needed to find that box. If he got to it fast enough, then he could end the Arch Lich and his minions.
“We’re nearly there!” Dave yelled. He used the bookshelves to get higher. He winced at what he was doing but between books and helping his guild, he’d pick his guild every time.
***
The Arch Lich’s eyes filled with pure anger as he turned toward the grand library. He had felt faint life forces moving through his domain of death. Enraged with the loss of his bone juggernaut, he had not been paying attention to his most sacred treasure and close kept secret.
Now his alarm runes flared to life, living and breathing creatures had made it into the grand library and were heading straight towards his phylactery.
With a screech that could be heard through the entire college, he rushed toward the grand library.
The air exploded around him as he sped off in the direction of his phylactery, his source of life and continued survival.
He called on every spell he knew to increase his speed.
He had underestimated them. He had thought that they had run from the grand library in fear.
It was clear what their aim was. He tried to use all the trap runes that he had, but something was destroying them before he could. His screech of frustration pierced the ears of undead and living alike.
The skeleton army and undead forces turned as one, rushing towards the grand library to defend their master’s most prized possession.
The Arch Lich’s face was unreadable as he heard cheering in reply to its screams.
He would make them pay. He would bring them back to death again and again, until he bound their souls to their very bodies. They would be his first draugr—their souls twisted and shaped to serve him throughout eternity!
Chapter 20: Rocket Man
“Come on, you’ve got this,” Bob said from his chair. He gripped the edges of it as he saw most of Party Zero rush through the library, leaping from the bookshelves. Steve just jumped from the floor he was on to the one above, his legs like jackhammers, leaving dents in the ground.
They tore a door apart by simply colliding wit
h it. They’d made it into a domed room. At the very top, there were rare books lining preserved cases. Among them was the Arch Lich’s phylactery.
None of the party slowed as they rushed forward. Bob gripped his seat tighter, warping the metal and the control panels, silently willing them on. Bob’s eyes went wide as the glass window in the room facing outside exploded with the arrival of a screeching Arch Lich.
“No, come on! There has to be a way!” Bob yelled at the screen, pulling his armrests apart in frustration.
***
“Steve, send me right over there.” Dave pointed at the top of a spiral staircase that led to the rarest of the library’s books.
“I thought you said we shouldn’t do that again. You know, the last time being when you got killed and everything?” Steve scooped Dave up as they continued to sprint through the room.
“Way to jinx it! Throw me before I start regretting this. I’ll leave you a spot,” Dave said.
The Arch Lich let out a scream. Dark-infused Mana surrounded his body.
Anna let loose with her wind blades, causing the very library to shake with their force. “Go!” she yelled.
Induca let out her own roar. A stream of flames poured out of her hands and her eyes turned brilliant red as the room heated up.
“Done!” Steve grabbed Dave, twirling once and then launching him.
“Just put the Mana barrier up a little and then add a little safety.” Gray smoke seemed to stream ahead of Dave, a metal casing wrapping around him.
The Arch Lich started to send out a tendril of Dark energy, the very library warping to try to stop Dave’s progress.
“Well, fuck you too!” Dave yelled, placing his hands on the metal.
Bulbs seemed to form underneath the bullet-looking mass Dave was in before a rigid funnel formed underneath.
“Didn’t you know? I’m a rocket man, motherfucker!” Dave yelled, the bottom of his capsule right next to Induca’s flames.
For a second, it looked as if he was going to be burned by them.
“Hydrogen saturation is high, nozzles are saturated,” Dave said to himself, the words burned into his mind after years of saying the words.
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