“With the Dwarf!” one of the Beast Kin leaders said. The motley crew followed Dave, finding another repeater being pushed out of the closet-looking factory.
He’d conjured the factory, which was easy enough, making a magical tap from his armor to the factory and feeding it from his reserves instead of his actual Mana. It meant he could make more than a dozen, without keeling over with Mana fatigue.
“Take these and put them out along the wall. They use bolts from the factories I’ve made across the wall!” Dave yelled at the Beast Kin over the noise.
“Gronel! Take this down to the west side!” the Beast Kin leader said, taking over from Dave, who now looked back to the skies.
The barrier was meant to keep out magic and rocks; it wasn’t made to stop people. The Demon fighters were now coming down inside the Mana barrier, trying to kill the defenders.
Dave jumped from the wall; his conjuring rods flew to his hands. His right turned into a sword he planted in the back of a Demon Champion. The creature plummeted to the ground, now lifeless with Dave’s sneak attack.
Dave’s left turned into a shield as he rolled off the Demon as it slammed into the ground, softening his fall as his sword turned into a spear. A Demon raked at his shield he’d raised high to cover himself. His spear slammed into the Demon and the head exploded into spikes. Dave pulled the spike-covered spear back and turned it into an axe. Dave raised his shield, covering his body to deflect stones that slammed into him.
Using his Touch of the Land, he knew that three Demons were advancing on him with speed. He threw his axe with his right hand, burying it in the chest of the level 215 Demon and turning out of the way of the other Demon’s charge.
He recalled the axe, parrying one Demon’s claws with his shield. It screeched like nails on a chalkboard as Dave felt the axe return to his hand. It transformed into a needle-point rapier longer than a great sword. He slammed his shield forward, applying a stun effect to the Demon to his front. He turned; his rapier darted out with surgical precision. The second circling Demon looked down, confused by the barely one centimeter-wide wound in its chest before it collapsed. Dave’s rapier turned into a great sword.
With his monstrous Strength, he could wield it easily in one hand as he cut the remaining Demon nearly in half. Blood sprayed out, hitting Dave’s barrier. He looked around and found a band of Demons who were advancing on the Dwarven artillery.
The Aleph’s behemoths came into play. The large lumbering beasts moved with a grace that belied their size, their blows savage and brutal.
Seems like they updated their fighting style off Steve. Dave saw similarities in their fighting styles.
More behemoths and other forces were protecting the healers. A small Mana barrier was erected around the healers’ camp. Already, there was a heavy flow of wounded rushing in. The Stone Raiders, Aleph, and DCA healers were pulling people back from the brink of death and right back out into battle at an alarming rate.
An army with enough high-skilled healers would be one hell of a scary thing.
Dave’s attention turned to the wall. The Stone Raider melee types, Aleph fighters, and Beast Kin soldiers protected the archers, mages, and those who manned the repeaters.
Dave concentrated, remembering Anna’s attacks: the form, the way that the spell flowed, and its true formation. As he slashed his great sword, magical coding flared to life on it; minor changes to its base made it release a hungry howl.
Dave conjured Anna’s spell, fueling it with stored Mana.
A blade of wind rushed outward over the heads of those at the wall and through the Demon Horde fighters trying to land on or beyond the wall.
Dave had found that conjuring a spell was easier if he made it within an item. He’d simply taken the two parts of Anna’s attack, the spell and her sword’s movement, and incorporated them into his sword.
The fight for dominance raged above Dave. He looked up. It was like a war of demi-gods. Thousands filled the sky, clashing in a terrible battle with no true direction.
There was just too many of the Demon Horde. Most kept the aerial forces occupied while others swept down toward the keep.
Dave conjured a bow. Ten Demons, seeing the defiant Dwarf, collapsed their wings, diving in an arrow formation.
Dave’s arrows ripped at the very air, letting out sonic booms. His aim was unnerving. Five were dead in as many seconds. The Demons howled out their rage; their prey wouldn’t leave the battlefield alive.
Dave took down three more. He conjured metal, sinking it deep into the keep’s ground and bracing himself. The final two tried to decapitate Dave with their claws. Instead, they found their hands broken by the Mana barrier that covered his body. Dave dismissed his conjured metal as the two Demons let out angry and pained yells.
His arrows found them before they were able to regain altitude.
Dave turned, letting loose an arrow that slammed into a Demon trying to get around Gurren. The creature was blown off the wall. Gurren waved his sword in thanks, gutting another Demon and tossing them off the wall with his shield.
An aura seemed to cover the area around the keep. Dave’s legs shook under the power of it.
A Dragon’s roar could be heard in the distance.
Chapter 21: Power Unleashed
Lox lost himself to his training, standing beside Gurren and Steve as they defended their allies. They were being swarmed on all sides by the Demon Horde.
A bellow, the likes of which Lox had only heard one time before, echoed through the forest and over the cliffs of Devil’s Crater.
On the ground and in the air, fire seemed to swirl, growing and becoming more solid as magma formed into flame atronachs. They darted through the Demon Horde’s airborne fighters, leaving trails of Fire and destruction in their wake.
Gurren growled, kicking a Demon off the wall. It yelled, but rose up again on its own wings and rushed back in. Lox’s blade rammed into its side while Gurren came out of his shield stance and took the creature’s head.
There was no time for words as they continued to fight with everything they had.
The atronachs numbered in the hundreds and were fighting a valiant battle, but there were four or five Demon Horde fighters for every defender left.
They were cutting them down in great swathes, but there weren’t enough of them.
Summoners called on their creations and bound creatures that could fly.
Lox looked upward. Time seemed to slow as the Demons of Devil’s Crater and the Demon Horde tore into one another. Stone Raiders, summoned creatures, and any remaining Aleph drones fought fifty meters above the keep, slowly being pushed back by the swarm of Demon Horde.
Repeaters fired along the wall while those manning them yelled at their attackers. Here and there, the Demon Horde picked up one of the people within the keep, hauling them off, dropping them, or cutting them apart in the sky.
The Fire atronachs’ flames melted away opposition. Lox let out a yell as he saw a Demon take down one of the repeaters’ defenders.
The Beast Kin firing the weapon didn’t know what happened as the Demon’s claws tore through its chest.
Lox watched as they were thrown off the wall by the Demon while two others impaled the Demon with sword and spear.
There was not an inch of the keep that was not being fought over.
“We can’t hold; we need more forces now or we’re going to get run over!” Josh yelled.
“I can get more people to you within twenty minutes,” Alkao yelled.
“That’s not enough. We’re going to need defenses down from the keep in the crater. Koza, Fonrir, Malsour—see to it. We will hold them there. Move reinforcements in. I want the POEs to begin evacuating. The Player Stone Raiders can get you a few minutes!” Josh said.
Malsour seemed to drop from out of the sky. Demons swarmed toward him as he walked down the line; pebbles accelerated out of thin air and tore apart as he cleared the walls.
“We can leave the automat
ons here to help you. As our allies, we give control of them to you,” Koza said.
“Thank you, Council Member,” Josh said. “Get people organized and out of here! Fonrir, I’m going to want that artillery right on the keep.”
“Can do.” Fonrir’s voice was gruff and filled with grudging respect.
Lox knew of Fonrir of Aldamire, a Warclan leader many veterans were proud to call their own. He would keep his end of the bargain.
“Wounded first, then able-bodied POEs! Stone Raiders, hold the Demon Horde as much as possible. Trap the ground and be ready to pull back outside the keep!” Josh yelled.
“Melee, regroup in the keep’s main courtyard!” Dwayne called.
“Battle mages, support melee and pull back to the keep’s gate toward Devil’s Crater!” Kim coughed. Fire had started to burn anything flammable inside the courtyard. A few mages were tending to it, but most were fighting the Demon Horde.
Lox killed off another Demon as Malsour reached them.
“Going down?” Malsour asked as part of the wall came away and they were lowered down to the base of the wall.
“Move!” Steve yelled to the two Dwarves.
Lox gripped his sword tighter. He wanted to stay with his friends, the Stone Raiders, but he knew that he would just be a hindrance as they’d be distracted in keeping him alive.
“Kill the bastards!” Lox yelled, clapping Gurren on the back as they rushed toward the artillery that was now pulling down their guns and trying to move them.
Gurren and Lox knew the guns from their time as shield bearers. They quickly dismantled them and put their Dwarven backs to the carted weapons. They quickly built up speed, headed through the keep’s gate as the battle raged behind them.
Fire seemed to illuminate the late afternoon, once again making light cover the crater.
Lox took a look back to see the flame atronachs spread across the front of the keep. Between them, they made a wall of Fire. The DCA fliers made quick on their escape, rushing toward the fort that was now growing along the road from the southeastern keep to Unity.
The Dwarven Warclan that had been left as reserve within Unity was making quick work of the fortifications.
Lox looked back as the wall of Fire between the arrayed atronachs started to bend.
The atronachs held for a moment, casting spells into the aerial Demon Horde. The Stone Raiders’ Players retreated from the fortifications slowly while making a rear guard of under two hundred.
Then, the aerial Demon Horde was just too much.
“Artillery, fire on the keep! Stone Raiders, ready yourselves and draw from the vaults!” Josh barked. Lox could make him out. He stood on a rock outcropping as shadows seemed to coil around him like flames with his twin blades glowing red in their hunger.
The atronachs’ wall was torn apart, the atronachs themselves being set upon by the Demons who made it through.
Lox’s heart paused as his eyes went wide at the number of Demons who filled the air.
“If you’re about to die, get someone to kill you or kill yourself. It’s better than giving these Demons some experience!” Dwayne yelled.
“Only use soul bound weapons!” Josh chorused.
“Ready your spells! Let’s see what you can do!” Kim whooped.
All across the Stone Raiders’ lines, amulets that had been drawing power from the guild members now started to flood their bodies with it. Buffs lit up the battlefield like bonfires, solid sheets of protections and enhancements glowing across the Stone Raiders. Many of the mages started to glow; the very Mana they channeled through their bodies tore them up from the inside.
There were no howls of pain or cries for mercy. The Stone Raiders whooped and cheered. Even now, Lox could see the hungry grins on their faces as they stood in the face of that Demon bulwark.
“Stone Raiders!” Josh’s voice tore through the air as a shadow of a Xelur Demon Lord appeared around him. His rallying call sent chills down the spines of everyone who heard it.
One hundred and seventy-three voices rose up to join the battle cry as Mana seemed to become a tangible thing as the Stone Raiders pulled on their vault soul gems.
Chapter 22: Rear Guard
Dave’s eyes might have been closed, but his senses were open to the universe around him. He pushed his Intelligence to his limits, using healing to wipe away his fatigue. It was physically harming his body, but he needed it to stabilize and strengthen the dozens of spells that the Stone Raiders had created.
Dave found his own voice rise up with the Stone Raiders’. His runes glowed across his body and bloody red lines appeared at the edges as they couldn’t handle the power output.
His body hurt, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in Earth’s simulation. Also here he was being constantly healed by his armor.
“Fire!” Kim’s voice filled with hunger as the ranged battle mages released their weapons.
It was as though the gods themselves had called down magic upon the keep.
The dead rose from their slumber, eager to kill the Demon Horde. Columns of light poured down from the heavens. Rain turned into ice as hard as arrows. Lightning arced across the sky. Barrages of spears and Mana bolts of all Affinities charged through the sky.
Swathes of the Demon Horde were washed away; many Stone Raiders fell unconscious from the Mana expenditure. Malsour was at the rear, creating golems and metal skimmers to pick up those already out of the fight, shipping them toward the growing fort in hopes to save them from dying and losing their gear and experience.
Wind turned the sky into a maelstrom; tornadoes erupted as plasma cannons fired.
It was an awesome display of magical firepower, but there was less than a hundred of them, and nearly three hundred and fifty thousand in the Demon Horde. They took out nearly a hundred and fifty thousand with their opening fire, their spells taking a toll on the Demon Horde.
Seeing their opportunity, the Demon Horde charged onward. The smart ones were able to move around the area where the Stone Raiders’ spells were. Most were going too fast or there were too many Demons around them to escape the worst of the spells.
“Melee, support the squishy mages! Summoners, keep our skies clear and make sure nothing gets behind us!” Dwayne barked.
Dave opened his eyes. His hands fell to his rods as a shield and a sword extended from them. He glanced to Suzy, Steve, and Anna on his right, and then Deia and Malsour on his left.
Induca was still hiding from everyone’s eyes, conjuring and controlling her flame atronachs to try to bolster the aerial forces.
There was no need for words before they silently looked toward the Demon Horde.
They charged toward the Stone Raiders, eager to rip apart those who dared to stop their feast of souls.
“Stone Raiders!” Dwayne yelled, charging forward.
“Stone Raiders!” A hundred voices rose up as the entire mass rushed forward. Even the battle mages boldly strode forward. None of them cared for their lives, for surviving this. They sure as hell did care about making the most of their attack.
Dave felt strength flood his body, his Agility and Intelligence boosted by buffs and enchantments on his armor. Party Zero rose into the air. Dave jumped from conjured rock to conjured rock as Suzy lifted herself and Steve. Her creations swarmed around her, tearing apart anything that tried to get near their creator. Steve fired the repeater in his right hand and hurled his axe through the sky with his left.
Anna took off like a bullet, spinning so fast as to make a tornado through the Demon Horde. Deia’s own blades left trails of Fire and falling Demons in their wake. Malsour was covered in rock below the waist, repulsing against the ground. Darkness covered him; darklings and shadow limbs extended from his shadow and reacted as if Malsour had been born with them. Spears and pebbles flew from around him.
Dave let out a scream as he ran faster and faster. Power charged through his shield and encompassed a great swath of Stone Raiders, protecting them from rocks and
spells hurled down on them.
The barrier projected off his shield started to hit resistance, but Dave powered on, pushing his armor and his enhancements as Demon after Demon slammed into his shield, damaging it.
Dave felt as if his mind were in a slowly closing vise as he conjured another shield in his right, bolstering his powers. On the inside of his first shield, a blue rune was fading to red, faster and faster. The vault soul gems continued to power him as spells ripped past him, able to pass through the shield-like barrier, but stopping everything coming from the other direction.
The barrier started to crack and fall apart. It shattered into Mana as it disappeared. In a tiny fraction of a second that Dave could only catch because of his higher Intelligence, a wall of force formed along the area that had been his shield.
Return damage is a bitch. A percentage of all of the attacks that had been placed on his Mana shield throughout the battle was redirected forward, right into the Demon Horde.
Dave fell back while the rest of his party surged forward, taking advantage of the chaos he had wrought. With a push, he followed after them. His body was weary and his mind tired. Twin axes appeared in his hands as he charged along with his party and his guild, right into the Dark Lord’s Demon Horde.
***
The Dwarven wards simply needed to be placed on the ground, pulling stone and metal from the ground into walls and parapets. It was impressive magic, but it couldn’t be compared to the scale of magic that the Stone Raiders were using.
Efri’s mind was blank as he took in the sight of the Stone Raiders’ rear guard. He felt the rush of Mana that was expelled, scared to blink lest he might miss something as spells that would fell the strongest of warriors tore through the Demon Horde.
Efri heard the Stone Raiders’ war cry as, instead of holding back, they raced forward.
Ranged weapons, spells: all of them took their toll to drop Demons from the sky. Melee fighters, even if they didn’t have the ability to fly, rushed up to the bodies of the falling Demons, using uncanny Agility to bring the fight to the flying forces. Others fought on the ground, turning it into an abattoir. They were half-blurred images tearing through the Horde.
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