Nova Terra: Liberator - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 5)

by Seth Ring

  [Dancing Petals]

  Blossom held up her staff, summoning a shower of brightly colored petals to cover Thorn, rapidly refilling his health.

  “Thorn, you’ve got to keep a tighter formation. Without Velin we don’t have the same support range,” Delmore said, casting a healing spell on Heidi. “Both Blossom and my spells heal over time rather than doing spiked healing so we can’t deal with you rushing in like that.”

  “My [Dancing Petals] has a four minute cool down,” Blossom chimed in, waving her staff as she cast another spell. “So you’ll need to wait till then for another quick heal.”

  “Good to know, I’ll stay a bit more defensive.”

  Grinning under his helmet, Thorn gave Blossom a thumbs up and then charged forward to rejoin the tank line. Though they had only made it halfway toward their goal, Thorn was not concerned as the DPS cooldowns would be ready in a few minutes and they could just repeat it. Stepping into the line in between Heidi and SoulSeeker, Thorn blocked an attack aimed at SoulSeeker and snapped a kick out, sending the attacking cultist flying.

  The red-robed cultists were streaming forward in an endless stream, but the pressure on the tank line was not that bad. Individually, the cultists were not very strong, and as long as the tanks avoided being wounded they were able to deal with the attacks without any major issues. The real danger lay in being surrounded and mobbed, so Thorn had the DPS players focus on keeping the sides of the formation clear of enemies.

  “We’re ready to go, Thorn.” Mina called out.

  “Great. DPS, clear space on Mina’s mark!”

  Behind the tank line the ranged DPS players began their casting again. This time, however, the red-robed cultists were wary and began to scatter to try and lessen the impact of the attack. At the sight of the running cultists, the edges of Thorn’s lips curled slightly and he lifted his head.

  [Wolf Lord’s Howl]

  The Iron Wolves’ war cry poured out of his throat, echoing off of the buildings on either side of the street, growing in volume as it was picked up by the tanks next to him. The stunning effect rippled through the fleeing cultists, stopping them in place just long enough for the storm of spells to erupt in their midst. Bolts of lightning danced through the crowd, jumping from cultist to cultist, leaving charred figures behind.

  Fireballs, arcane bolts, and globs of poison quickly cleaned up the few cultists who survived the storm of ice and flying stone that landed on the tightly packed mob. Seeing that the spells were beginning to peter out, Thorn took a big step forward.

  “Press forward!”

  Making sure that he was not outpacing his team mates, Thorn led the charge forward, smashing past the few cultists who were still alive. Rather than wasting time finishing them off, the tanks left them to the melee DPS players who had just rushed past them into the empty space created by the spells.

  Thorn saw Alabaster, the Wolfkin New Moon Walker in his unit, appear behind a struggling cultist, using a long, curved dagger to finish him off. The slim Wolfkin quickly finished off two more cultists before allowing the tank line to sweep past him. Pushing forward, the tank line soon arrived at the gap between the two buildings that Thorn had pointed to earlier, effectively stemming the endless tide of cultists.

  The spot that Thorn had picked was just beyond an intersection whose cross street led to the towers on the front wall. Pushing through the intersection, the ninth and tenth companies each took one of the streets, preventing any of the cultists who had already rushed toward the towers from returning. Two large buildings on either side of the street leading further into the town gave the eighth and first companies solid anchors on either end of their tank line, freeing them from having to worry about flanking enemies.

  “Heidi, Soul, I’m stepping out for a second.”

  Once the defensive lines were firmly established, Thorn stepped back, joining the DPS players who were peppering the tightly clumped Wolfkin cultists with attacks. Opening up his messaging system, he checked on the progress of the two groups that had gone after the towers. The three companies who had attacked the right tower were already in possession of the wall and were breaking down the door to the tower, but the three companies who went to the left had not made nearly as much progress.

  “All Companies, report.”

  “Company One. Holding position in Greyfield at Main and Vesper.”

  “Company Two, assaulting the northern tower.”

  “Company Three, holding the northern wall.”

  “Company Four, also holding the northern wall.”

  “Company Five, assaulting the southern wall.”

  “Company Six, same.”

  “Company Seven. We’re also assaulting the southern wall.”

  “Company Eight. Holding position with Company One.”

  “Company Nine, holding on the southern branch of Vesper.”

  “Company Ten, holding position on the northern branch of Vesper.”

  Listening to each of the companies, Thorn made notes until his display held an updated map of the battlefield. This way of playing was new, but so far, Thorn was enjoying it. It reminded him of the turn-based strategy games that he had played when he was younger and stuck in his chair.

  “Company Five, what is the holdup?”

  With the northern wall taken, Company Two was making progress on the northern tower, but the progress on the southern wall had been completely stopped.

  “Uh, we had a bit of a, uh, problem. We ran into a commander who is throwing large scale earth walls. We’re still working on pushing through. Every time we try to take down the wooden wall he summons thick stone blocks to stop us.”

  “Got it.” Thorn examined the map for a moment. “Company Four, rotate south. Company Three, the pressure on the wall should slow down in a moment so push forward to protect the Second and Fourth Companies. Once the southern wall is taken I want Company Six and Seven on the tower. We need to take them down as soon as possible.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Continuing to monitor the situation, Thorn got out his arbalest and joined the ranged DPS in picking off cultists who were climbing the buildings on either side of the street. So far they had only faced one type of cultist so hearing that there was a magic-using cultist on the southern wall set off warning bells in Thorn’s head.

  The tide of red-robed cultists made it obvious that they were spawning in endless numbers, but it was soon clear that Thorn’s guess was correct. Once the Iron Wolves took up a position at the crossroads, the numbers of Wolfkin on the walls began to drop as they received no more reinforcements. Individually, the cultists were no match for the players, so once they lost their overwhelming numbers advantage they were quickly cleaned up.

  The Fourth Company, who had been holding the wall on the northern side of the gate, began to charge down to the south, catching the cultists defending the southern wall on the flank. The cultists were soon routed by the combined attack of four companies, and the tower followed shortly after.

  *ding*

  Hearing a noise behind him, Thorn turned his head and saw the air fifteen feet away in the center of the intersection shimmer. With a ripping sound a portal opened up, sending streaks of energy crackling through the air.

  “Huh, interesting.”

  As soon as Thorn got close to the portal a notification popped up, asking him if he wanted to enter the dungeon. Selecting no, Thorn stepped back, his eyes drifting to the tank line that was still facing a horde of red-robed cultists.

  “Do you think they’ll slow down now that the dungeon is opened?” Mina paused between [Ice Spikes] to ask.

  “No, I have a feeling that they will just keep coming.” Shaking his head, Thorn contacted the other companies. “All Companies, report.”

  “Company One. Still, holding our position at Main and Vesper. The cultists are not increasing in strength, but they have added ranged attackers.”

  “Company Two, the northern tower is down and we are pushing into the cen
ter of town. We’re facing stiff resistance and more cultists attacking along the northern side of the village.”

  “Company Three here, we’ve pushed forward toward the center of the village along Vesper and are about two fights away from the intersection.”

  “Company Four. The southern wall is clear so we took Main street and will arrive in sixty seconds.”

  “Company Five, we are pushing up the southern branch of Vesper toward the intersection. We are still three blocks away, so about six fights till we arrive.”

  “Company Six. The southern tower is down and we are pushing along the south side of the village. There are a lot of cultists swarming our way.”

  “Company Seven. We’re assisting Company Six with the cultists on the southern side of the village.”

  “Company Eight. We are holding position with Company One.”

  “Company Nine, holding the southern branch of Vesper at the intersection.”

  “Company Ten, holding position at the intersection on the northern branch of Vesper.”

  “Thank you.” Updating his map, Thorn began to give commands. “Company Two, do your best to hold on, we’ll get relief for you soon. Company Three, as soon as you are done with your two fights, move north to assist Company Two. Company Ten, push out toward Company Three and join up with Company Two as soon as the northern branch of Vesper is clear. Company Four, replace Company One as soon as you get here. Company One, you’re resting for ten minutes, and then I want you to rotate with Company Eight. Company Five, once you clear your road you’ll be resting for twenty minutes and then rotating with Company One. Company Six and Seven, keep up a solid defense, we can’t let the cultists through. Company Eight, once Company One swaps with you, rest for thirty minutes. Company Nine, once south Vesper is clear, go reinforce Companies Six and Seven. We need to get a firm grip on Greyfield Village, any questions?”

  “Nope.”

  “No, sir.”

  “Got it.”

  Listening as the Company commanders acknowledged his orders, Thorn selected Hasta’s name and called him.

  “Hello, my lord. How goes the subjugation of Greyfield?”

  “So far so good, but I think we are going to run into an issue soon.”

  “Oh? Do you need reinforcements?”

  “Yes. I’d like two battalions stationed here at all times. We’re facing endlessly spawning cultists so we are going to need reinforcements eventually. The more immediate need is to free up some of the dungeon teams because in order to take down Gelish, we have to clear a 50 player dungeon.”

  “Uh, Thorn?”

  Mina’s voice interrupted Thorn’s explanation. Turning his head, Thorn could see her standing on the top of an [Ice Pillar], staring over the heads of the tank line and the tightly packed cultists. Following her pointing finger, a group of ten cultists who stood head and shoulders above their comrades came into view. Shaggier than the other Wolfkin, they were significantly more muscular and carried with them a barely suppressed aura of savagery.

  “Hasta, I have to go. We have greater werewolves on route. Get a few more battalions here as soon as possible. I have a feeling we’re going to need them.”

  “You got it, sir.” Throwing a snappy salute, Hasta ended the call and Thorn swapped out his arbalest for his tetsubo as he strode back to the tank line.

  “Tanks, listen up! Greater werewolves hit like a truck, but the real danger is their speed. Do your best to keep yourself alive and rely on the DPS to hurt them. Support, we need as much crowd control as we can get to keep the greater werewolves from getting past the tank line. Melee DPS, now is your time to shine, but be especially careful of counter attacks. I’d bet my left arm that these things have way stronger corruption than the regular cultists so be on your guard.”

  Arriving next to Heidi and SoulSeeker, Thorn kept his eyes fixed on the ten greater werewolves pushing their way through the tightly packed cultists. As they strode forward, the cultists who noticed them fell back, barely concealed fear staining their faces. Each greater werewolf stood close to eight and a half feet tall, reminding Thorn of the foe he had faced in Greymane Keep when he first arrived at the valley.

  Even with the support of Mina, Velin, and Akira, Thorn had nearly died in that fight. Still, the player who had faced down the greater werewolf for the Wolf Lord’s Throne was long gone. Thorn had grown, not only in his abilities and combat skill, but in his mentality. He was more than confident that if he were to face that greater werewolf today he would need no help to put him down. Plus, today, Thorn was not fighting alone.

  Chapter Six

  Stepping forward, Thorn swept his gaze over the cultists in front of him. The smell of corruption that each of the normal cultists carried was extra strong on these greater werewolves, adding to the dangerous air they projected, making Thorn worry about the damage they would do to his teammates. Without an antidote as powerful as the sap of the World Tree, getting wounded was a death sentence.

  Even though the Iron Wolf soldiers were effectively immortal due to being players, not being able to log in for twenty four hours would drastically cut down on the army’s strength, to say nothing of the loss of proficiency and items that death brought with it. As much as possible, Thorn wanted to mitigate the damage caused by the greater werewolves, which meant throwing the people who had ingested the sap of the World Tree into the front.

  “Heidi, you and I are going to tank all of them. I want all extra healers focused on the two of us! Mina, we’ll need some really tight CC, you’ll be fighting with us. DPS, focus on burning them down one at a time if you can, otherwise their health regeneration is going to be a problem.”

  Thorn’s voice carried his commands to all of the players on the battlefield, causing looks between many of the players. While Wolfkin were a common sight in the valley, none of the players except Mina had ever seen a greater werewolf.

  “He sounds really serious? Are they really that dangerous?”

  “I dunno, but if he is taking them seriously, we probably should too.”

  “Hah, this whole fight has been a piece of cake. We’re gonna eat these things for breakfast.”

  Hearing the whispering around him, Delmore’s brow furrowed.

  “Hey! Focus up. If you have time to chat, spend it on what you are supposed to be doing!”

  Standing just in front of the tank line, Thorn adjusted his grip on his massive metal club, keeping his eyes on the greater werewolves. Abruptly, all ten of them stopped where they were and the cultists around them burst into a frenzy of action, throwing themselves forward with wild abandon.

  “Steady! Focus on blocking them!”

  “A few slipped through on the left! Quick!”

  “We got them!”

  “Don’t let them push you back!”

  Despite the shouts raging around him, Thorn’s focus never wavered. The cultists rushing forward avoided him, doing their best to stay outside of his reach. By splitting to each side they inadvertently created a clear path, connecting Thorn and the ten greater werewolves who had ignited the frenzy.

  “They’re coming.”

  Thorn’s voice was calm and he spoke just before the greater werewolves began their charge, triggered by some sort of instinct. The greater werewolves leapt forward, landing on their forelegs as they bound toward Thorn with fangs glistening in the torchlight. Covering the distance rapidly, they bulldozed past a few unlucky cultists who found themselves in their way.

  “Haah.” Breathing out, Heidi stepped up next to Thorn.

  “You’ll take the four on the left. Let me know if you need assistance.”

  Before Heidi could reply the first of the greater werewolves was on them, leaping up, its claws drawn back to deliver a punishing slash. Without waiting, Thorn took another step forward, his arm shooting out like a piston. The werewolf had been confident in the speed of its attack, but it suddenly felt as if it was moving in slow motion when Thorn made his move. A massive hand grew even bigger in its v
ision, the thick fingers of the silver gauntlet ending in razor sharp claws.

  Instinctively, the greater werewolf opened its mouth, making the worst mistake of its life. Under his helmet, Thorn’s eyes had already drifted past the first attacker and landed on the two greater werewolves who were about to attack from right behind. A glint of light drew Thorn’s attention back and he saw the greater werewolf’s razor sharp teeth in its opening maw.

  A small smile tugged the corners of Thorn’s lips up and he increased the speed of his hand, jamming it into the incoming mouth. Wrapping his fingers around the greater werewolf’s head, Thorn shoved, destroying his enemy’s forward momentum and nearly breaking its neck with the whiplash. Desperately, the creature tried to claw at him, but he bobbed his head, letting its claws slip past.

  Another step forward put him closer to the next two greater werewolves, forcing them into an awkward position. Because of how close Thorn was, the two werewolves launched their attacks early, trying to create some space. Swinging the unfortunate werewolf in his hand to ward off one of the attacks, Thorn used his tetsubo to block the other, before spinning to the side and unleashing a brutal sidekick.

  Trapped between Thorn’s leg and its companion, the greater werewolf was unable to dodge and was forced to take the kick head on. Drawing its legs up to block and bracing itself as best it could, the last thing it saw was the terrified look in the eyes of the werewolf that Thorn was using as a shield. When Thorn’s foot impacted its arms, they were blasted apart with a disturbing crunch.

  Not sparing another glance for the greater werewolf he had just sent flying, Thorn ducked, three sets of claws whistling through the air where his head had just been. He had been hoping to finish off the greater werewolf that he had just kicked, but even though he had felt the monster’s chest cave in, he was not convinced that the creature had died. The healing ability of the greater werewolves was no joke, and Thorn could see the wounds on the werewolf he was using as a shield closing before his eyes.