The second problem was an easy fix; the enchanted Viridium was saturated with dark mana, and I found I could easily make my insubstantial body flow into it, like a genie being sucked into its lamp. From inside, it was even easier to control the armor, and I realized moving it was more akin to controlling a second body than wielding magic. It was so easy that, acting on a hunch, I made spikes grow out of the armor with hardly any effort. I flexed my shadow ‘muscles’ and made a tendril of Viridium sprout from the armor. It formed out of the enchanted metal as if from a child’s playdough. It was similar to the golem limbs I’d used before, but it moved more fluidly. My eyes widened when I realized the implication. With a surge of mana, I formed two limbs. Then three. I had to reduce the armor to account for the extra mass, but after a little experimentation, I modified it to form a sort of harness that was strapped around my torso.
I had three flailing limbs now, each around two meters long, and I could control them and change their length with a thought. I batted one limb at the rocky ground and the stone cracked under the blow. The armor took some durability damage as well, but with the mana pulsing through it, the enchantment was already fixing the damage. With enough mana and willpower, I could make them as strong as I wanted. The contraption was still heavy, though. I dropped one limb to the ground to support the weight and realized that with this method I didn’t even need to use Mana Infusion to carry it. I could add as many beads as I liked and, as long as I could provide the required mana, the armor would be able to support itself.
I examined myself and chuckled. With the thin harness around my torso and the three flailing limbs, I looked nothing like the ironman I initially envisioned myself to be. If anything, I was Doctor Octopus.
It was fitting, in a way. I was more akin to a villain than a hero anyway.
I batted two limbs at the ground, watching it crack. Then I made one of the limbs longer, shortening the other one to provide enough mass, and wrapped it around a boulder that was as large as me. The thing must have weighed around 300 kilograms, but I simply channeled more mana into the enchanted Viridium and picked it up easily while keeping the two other limbs on the ground to support its weight.
I grinned broadly. My main disadvantage as a magic-oriented character was my relatively weak physique. Even though being a boss helped to shore up that gap, I couldn’t contend in a purely physical contest with strength-based creatures that were around my level, but this shell allowed me to convert my magical strength into a physical one, and with much greater effect than what I could achieve with Mana Infusion.
It had its cost, of course. Lifting the boulder had drained my mana at a rate of 300 MP per second. But I had plenty to spare. Unlike golems, which needed a core as their power source, I was the power source. Just to make my point, I wrapped a tendril around an Ogre-sized boulder which must have weighed over a ton. My mana bar shrank rapidly as I was forced to channel a huge amount of mana into the shell, but I’d managed to lift it. I casually threw the boulder behind my back. That move instantly reduced my mana bar by a quarter, but I didn’t care. I was learning to deal with the immense drain, and I’d just gained a powerful tool in my arsenal for the battle ahead.
I formed the shell into a single block, put it inside a new spatial satchel, and dismissed my clone.
I couldn’t wait to test it against the next unfortunate bouldite that got in my way.
***
The march was uneventful, and we reached the third bouldite tribe toward the end of the night. We went straight into the settlement, our scouts having already reported it abandoned.
The buildings were all destroyed, turned into piles of rubble. It seemed the enemy had decided not to engage us or supply us with more building materials.
“Where’re all them asshats at?” Ragnar growled as he studied the broken buildings.
“The Outriders are controlling them,” I said. “I guess they figured it was better to pull back than risk losing another portion of their forces.”
“I don’t like this,” Sullivan said grimly. “Fighting against mindless monsters was hard enough. If they now have their own strategist pulling the strings …”
“I know,” I said. “I was hoping to carve our way forward, engaging small groups along the way to increase our soldiers’ levels, but it looks like that plan is out now.”
“We should stay put for a few days,” Hoshisu said.
Sullivan nodded. “I was about to suggest the same thing.”
I frowned. “Why?”
The white-haired woman rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re moving forward without knowing what we’re getting into. We should send out long-range scouting expeditions. Intel is key.”
“Also,” Sullivan added, “staying put for a few days will allow us to raise our energy stores. Right now we have enough to resurrect just over half the army. It won’t be enough.”
“Nothin’s gonna be enough against them friggin’ VIs,” Ragnar spat. “Any of you ever seen an Outrider fight before?”
“Have you?” Malkyr looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
The drone shook his head darkly. “Hildiel, God o’ Light I worked for, had pictures in ‘er church showin’ an Outrider puttin’ the smack-down on whole cities.”
“I fought one,” I said, drawing all eyes to me. “You’re right. They’re too powerful. Godlike, really.”
“How do you fight a god?” Malkyr asked, wide-eyed.
“There’s one way,” I answered with a grim smile. “Come on, gather the troops, I’m going to need them all.”
The others looked at me, puzzled.
“We’re going to call for a god of our own.”
***
Sunrise was barely half an hour away when the army formed a wide ring around the mobile shrine.
I stood next to the holy shrine, my hands spread over it as I beseeched our dark deity.
The last time I invoked this ceremony, I asked Nihilator to allow us to breach through Akzar’s wards so we could infiltrate it. Back then, I didn’t have his favor, and as punishment, he made me swear off the lives of the loyal minions who’d helped me take over the city.
I’d tried to wriggle out of the commitment, but the kobolds were sacrificed nonetheless, and their tormented souls now resided inside the abominable golem, Swarm.
Since then, I’d sacrificed a priest of light, gaining back a bit of my god’s favor. With my debt paid, two bouldite tribes defeated, and several new temples dotting the land, I judged I had enough spiritual ‘currency’ to invoke my god’s attention and cast Communal.
“Nihilator, hear me,” I began. “I, your high priest, beseech you to heed my words.”
The thousands around me all held their breaths in anticipation, but for a long moment, nothing happened. The dark god, freed by my hands from his eons-long imprisonment, was happily roaming the land in the flesh, devastating everything in sight. He might be having too much fun to answer me.
The pregnant pause went on and on before the shrine finally flickered to life.
“My puny goblin minion.” The god’s voice pressed down on everyone like a physical weight. “You have amused me greatly of late. Speak your request, and I shall reveal its cost.”
It worked after all. I took in a deep breath. “Oh great Nihilator, our path of conquest for spreading darkness in your name, leads us to face impossible odds. I will carve your name upon the bodies of our enemies, but two of them are beyond my reach. Two Outriders lead our enemies, and against them, your might alone may prevail.” The arcane speech came surprisingly easy for me. I was sort of proud of it, but I feared Ragnar or one of the other players would laugh at my words and anger the volatile ancient evil. But everyone, even the drone, felt the severity of the moment and held their tongues.
This was going even better than I’d hoped. “Then will you allow me to summon you when the time is right?”
“No!” The voice literally blew me away, and I was swept several meters from the shrine. “Nihilator does not grant that which you already possess! You have dared contact me without cause? You shall pay the price of your arrogance!”
“No, wait—” I began, but it was too late.
A chill hit me and washed over the rest of the army. Everywhere I looked, soldiers’ eyes bulged, and their faces became lined as their life was sucked away from them.
Communal
Your request has angered Nihilator. As penance, one year of life has been drained out of everyone participating in the ceremony.
“Shit,” I cursed. That went much worse than I’d thought. Nihilator drained away their lives like the soul-sucking demon-god that he was.
Ragnar approached me unsteadily. “Wha’ tha’ hell happened?”
“Nihilator happened.” I scowled. What the hell did he mean when he said I already possess the ability to summon him? I had already used my one-time summon I received by freeing him to deal with Gondriel, the Outrider that took over my valley.
Vic snorted.
The first ray of sun appeared over the horizon. The soldiers seemed weakened, but not to the point of collapse. Their lives being shortened by a year had little meaning compared to the six weeks I had left to achieve my goal.
“I guess that didn’t pan out,” Sullivan said dryly.
“No,” I said. “Let’s call it a day.”
The strategist nodded. “We’ll discuss our options tomorrow.”
***
The next evening we woke up to find some of the scouts we’d sent out days ago had returned.
And they weren’t bringing back good news.
“You’re sure about that?” I asked the head of one of the scout groups.
“Yes, Chief,” the hob replied reverently. “A force of bouldites a thousand strong is marching toward us.” He motioned to the table map, pointing northwest from our location. “They’ll get to us in two days.”
“And you two are also sure of what you saw?” I asked the other two scouts.
They nodded. Each one had also spotted another force of a thousand bouldites marching our way, one from the north, another from the northeast.
“They’re trying to pin us down.” Sullivan studied the map. “If we stay put, their three forces will be able to flank us from the front and sides. They’ll crush us easily. We don’t have nearly enough soldiers to withstand a coordinated assault of 3,000 bouldites.”
“What are our options?” I asked.
The strategist and the other players exchanged grim looks but remained quiet.
It was Ragnar who broke the silence. “We go for their throats,” he snarled, banging a clawed hand on the map table. “I ain’t standin’ ‘round pickin’ my nose waitin’ to be put down. When somethin’ charges at me, I charge right back.”
“Yeah, we saw how you threw yourself against the bouldites, respawned, and did it all over again,” Sullivan said dryly.
“An’ I got me two sweet levels for it,” the drone growled. “Now there’s someone badder than you coming, so you bunch of pansies wanna run?”
“He’s right.” Lirian moved to stand beside the drone. “We’re not running. We’re the GreenPiece Clan. If we can’t win against their combined forces, we will attack one of their forces head-on and push through.”
Sullivan shook his head. “See their position on the map? They’re coordinated to get here together. If we attack one, we’ll never make it through before the others close in from behind and finish us off.”
“Can we even take out a thousand bouldites at once?” Raystia asked wearily.
The strategist nodded. “The last tribe numbered 800, and we beat them … barely, granted, but our soldiers leveled up since then. The area ahead is full of hills and ravines that can be used as choke points. I believe that with careful planning, and considering our available energy for resurrections, we can win against a thousand.” He held my gaze. “It will also be helpful if we have something more robust than an outpost, considering things will only get more difficult going forward.”
“I’ll relay that request to Kaedric,” I said. “For now, what I’m hearing is that we can do it.”
Sullivan sighed. “If it were just us against a thousand, probably. But as I said, if we do that, we’ll get boxed in. Our only option is to retreat.”
“No,” I growled. “The Outrider assholes that control them won’t let us go. They want victory, not a stalemate. We have to push forward.”
“How?” Fox demanded. “I agree with Sullivan, the numbers are clear. We can’t win against all three waves.”
The gears were already spinning in my mind. “Three thousand enemies is no small number. It must be a third, if not half, of the reserve forces the Outriders keep around the cave. If we defeat them here, it means fewer enemies later for the final battle.”
The yellow-furred bugbear crossed his arms. “And how does that help us, exactly?”
“It means we can expend some of our aces in the hole we’ve been keeping for the final battle,” I said, and I wasn’t referring to the bonus Aly’s research had granted me. That was one card I intended to save till the very end.
Fox’s eyebrows soared. “We have aces in the hole? As in plural?”
“Yes.” I turned to Sullivan. “Our vassals’ militias – do you think they can handle one of those forces? They have more soldiers than we do.”
“Hmm.” The strategist’s face contorted in thought. “They have 7,000 soldiers put together, perhaps a bit more since Ra’av is constantly increasing Akzar’s forces. Their average level is lower than our army, which puts them at a significant disadvantage, but they have more groups of elite warriors – some even above level 100 – that somewhat makes up for that.” He glanced at the map, tracing his fingers over the terrain ahead. “There are several narrow passages … if they can get there before the enemies and block it … yeah, I think they have a chance to take out one force. But it’s going to be a close call either way. They won’t be sending any more reinforcements our way anytime soon after that.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “As long as they fulfill their part.”
“We can send some foblins to reinforce them,” Raystia offered. “There are thousands of them back in the valley.”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll need them for later. If Sullivan thinks they can do it, I’m going to take his word for it.”
“What about the third bouldite group, Chief?” Malkyr asked.
“I’ll handle them,” I said grimly.
My large friend’s eyes widened. “Alone?”
“No, I’ll take some foblins with me.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant. That horde might be able to hold the bouldites off for a while.”
“Not exactly. I’ll only be taking about ten with me.”
All eyes turned to me.
“Oren,” Kyth said slowly. “You’re going to fight a thousand bouldites on your own with only ten, level 1 foblins?”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking about the very first battle I had led where I’d used low-level goblins to throw much stronger hobs off a cliff.
“Damn, fugly, you got some heavy balls on ya,” Ragnar chuckled.
Vic bristled.
“Oh, I get it!” Malkyr grinned. “You’re going to use that infernal chalice thing to make them explode, right? Like when you did against the players that invaded the valley.”
I shook my head. “It won’t work at this scale. I can’t turn foblins fast enough, and the damage they’d cause wouldn’
t be nearly enough to kill the bouldites anyway.”
The players exchanged uncertain glances, but no one tried to object.
“Father, I—” Lirian took a step forward, but I cut her off.
“You’re not coming,” I said. “There’s a good chance I’ll die. If anything, I think you should get back to the clan where it's safe.”
“No!” Lirian eyes flashed. “I need to stay and fight! I must become stronger, Father!”
I sighed. “So like your mother. Alright, but I want you to stay with the main army until I return. And don’t take unnecessary risks.”
“How the hell are you going to handle a thousand bouldites on your own?” Hoshisu stared at me with her familiar narrowed-eyed expression.
I smirked at her and opened my mouth to answer.
“Don’t say ‘with magic!’” she spat out before I began. “What kind of magic can destroy so many higher-level enemies?”
I showed her a tooth-filled grin. “A really dangerous kind.”
18 - Threesome
“This is crazy,” Jaelon squeaked as he joined the rest of the players, leading the clan’s combined forces of soldiers and bonetises, over 5,000 total, toward the horde of approaching bouldites. “There’s no way we can—”
“You talk a lot for a small man,” Pandamonium said. “You should be glad! Every day you get to fight, hack, and bleed is another day you get to live! Embrace it!”
The other player gulped. “Embrace being pulverized by giant walking boulders?”
“Yes!” She gave him a toothy grin. “The thrill of battle, feeling your enemy die by your hand, or feel the last drops of your lifeblood draining away – this is what it means to be alive!”
Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6) Page 34