“You’re crazy.” Jaelon shook his head.
Panda let out a short laugh. “Maybe, but I’m having fun.”
“Yulli?” Sullivan called to the scout walking beside him.
She pointed ahead, not needing him to ask the question. “The pass is just ahead, three kilometers. We’ll get there an hour before the bouldites.”
“Good.” The strategist’s expression darkened. He glanced at the player woman walking beside him. “Any word from the others?”
Aly nodded. “Misa just messaged me. The militia will reach their designated spot in 20 minutes.”
“What about Oren?”
The platinum-haired player scowled. “He’s not answering.”
***
Nero and the Mob Squad marched at the head of a huge army combined from the militia forces that normally garrisoned the clan’s vassal settlements.
“We are so going to die,” Misa sighed, unwittingly reflecting Jaelon’s sentiment in the faraway group.
“Come on, cheer up,” Raystia said.
“Fine.” Misa forced a smile. “We are going to die!”
“Better,” Fox grunted, then chuckled.
“Our cause is just, so we will be victorious,” Nero said. The dark-winged player had barely spoken during the few hours of travel and was absentmindedly playing with Akzar’s Overlord Ring, a magical band loaned to him by the general. It enabled the wearer to mentally guide Akzar’s forces and granted them combat bonuses.
“Yeah, not sure that’s how logic works, dragon boy,” Misa said tartly.
“We do have these two big boys, though.” Raystia gestured behind her at Bonecruncher and Broncar. The Champion and Akzar’s strongest were tier 3 and tier 4 bosses and could have probably decimated an entire bouldite patrol on their own.
“Thank you,” Misa said. “It makes me feel much better about my impending death.”
“We have 3,000 Akzarian soldiers, officers, and commanders,” Riley said. “Almost 150 kobolds from Koboldoptia, 500 soldiers from Novenguard – most of which are over level 40 – not to mention Whitebanner and Storg’s forces of 2,000 soldiers each, which also includes high-level knights and several squads of strong spellcasters.”
Misa looked at him. “What’s your point?”
He shrugged. “It might take us a long time to get killed.”
“I’ll take that.”
Nero interrupted their banter. “Any word from the others?”
Misa squinted her eyes as she checked her interface. “Sullivan’s group will reach their destination shortly after us. Oren’s not answering.”
“Yeah, he does that,” Riley said. “He’s a big melodrama junkie. ‘Ooo, I’ll take on a thousand bouldites all by myself’ – then he slips off the radar so he can surprise us all with his heroic deeds when he finally comes back.”
“Yep, that’s my uncle,” Raystia said. “Come on, we’re nearly there.”
They arrived at their destination shortly afterward. The flat ground formed into rolling hills and crags that formed a funnel-shaped gorge 200 meters wide.
“Alright, we’re here,” Misa said, turning to a level 65 hobgoblin commander wearing a pristine breastplate. “Darok, spread out your guys to block the way.”
“Very well,” Akzar’s top commander replied. He issued a few commands, and soon, hundreds of shield-bearing hobs formed a tight line across the gorge. The rest of the forces filed in behind them.
“Not like that,” Fox said with disdain. “Their hurlers will take them out in droves. Spread out at least two meters apart – practice some social distancing for crying out loud.”
The commander nodded, and soon the soldiers spaced out their ranks, forming into neat crisscross patterns. The rest of the armies filled up the space behind them, forming a roadblock that was wider than it was long.
“Impressive,” Nero noted stoically.
Fox snorted. “The bouldites will plow through them.”
“Have faith,” the half-dragon said. He pointed to the side of the gorge where the ranged units were climbing to get a better vantage point. Storg’s pikemen filtered through the first ranks, setting their long weapons down, braced against the ground. Novenguard’s riders were forming into small hit-and-run groups, and Whitebanner’s mages were casting buffs on the entire army. Monsters and non-monsters of all types stood shoulder to shoulder, united by darkness, prepared to fight and die together.
A chill ran through Raystia as she witnessed the incredible force Oren had mustered. And it wasn’t even his main one. She couldn’t imagine any other player achieving half of what he did; monsters and civilized, fighting together toward a common goal.
“Fighting for our freedom,” Riley whispered, echoing her thoughts.
It was inspiring.
Fox snorted. “If you’re about to slap some blue paint on your face, I’m out.”
“I can see them coming,” Nero said, breaking the moment. “Get ready.”
***
The GreenPiece Clan’s soldiers streamed into the wide gorge they prepared to hold. Thousands of hobs moved in perfect sync, placing their cargo of building materials, arranging them in six neat stacks.
“Wolrig, raise the outposts,” Sullivan said.
“Yes, Grand Strategist,” the goblin said respectfully and stepped forward. He closed his eyes and lifted his hands.
Six shimmering outpost visages appeared around each of the resource piles, forming two lines of three. The fortifications built themselves up within a few heartbeats, depleting 90,000 points of energy, but almost completely blocking the passage.
“Are you sure expending so much energy at once is the smart thing to do?” Malkyr asked dubiously.
Sullivan nodded. “We’re forming a defense line. There will be no resurrections during the battle, so it’s best to invest some energy in fortification.”
“We could build one outpost at our rear to serve as a resurrection point while the rest of the army goes on the offensive,” the larger player argued.
“They’ll butcher our soldiers in a full-on clash,” Hoshisu said. “We don’t stand a chance in an open field battle.”
“Why leave space between the outposts, then?” Panda scratched her head. “They’ll just pass between them.”
Sullivan shook his head. “If we just blocked the passage, only the garrisoned soldiers would be able to engage while the rest of the army waited at the rear for the enemy to breach through. The gaps are narrow, so the bouldites will only be able to pass a few dozen at a time. We’ll be able to cover more surface that way, take them out as they squeeze through.”
“I like that plan,” the berserker woman said with a huge grin.
“Enemy sighted!” Ashlazaria, one of the veteran scout bosses, called out.
“Ranged units to the battlements!” Savol shouted. “Fighters, behind fortifications. Mages, to the sides. Ogres, reinforce frontlines!”
Malkyr drew out his enchanted greataxe then elbowed one of the Ogre Mages. “Light me up, man?”
The Ogre huffed but pressed a giant finger to the weapon. Fire cascaded down his arms and was sucked in by the axe’s enchantment, making the sigils along its surface glow bright orange.
“Here they come!” someone shouted.
The horde of bouldites had arrived, hundreds of them marching into the wide gorge. They let out a battle roar as they saw the army waiting for them and without the slightest hesitation, began their charge.
***
I rode the bonetis hard, forcing it to gallop at full speed. The beast was tiring, yet I had no choice but to egg it on. The third bouldite force I was going to face was the farthest one, and I needed time to prepare for their arrival.
I glanced back at the small group of bonetises that ran after me, each one carrying several foblins on their backs. The small critters clung desperately to the mounts’ boney limbs.
Several messages from the other player pinged across my view, but I ignored them for now. There was n
o time to pause, and I had nothing to report. I’d either message them of my victory when it was all over, or they’d learn of my defeat when the enemy closed in on them from behind.
Losing was not an option. I bowed my head into the wind and urged my mount to go even faster.
***
“Fire!” Sullivan shouted from atop one of the rear outposts.
The charging bouldites had come into bow range and the 1,200 hob scouts and Ogre crossbowmen manning the battlements started shooting their deadly payload. But even with the high elevation, their range was matched by the much higher-level bouldites.
Almost 800 hurlers launched their heavy boulders at the outposts, hitting the stone foundations and reinforced wooden walls, shaving off huge chunks of their durability, and in some places - blasting straight through.
The army’s strategist clenched his jaws as the enemy’s opening salvo claimed the lives of several dozen soldiers. “Keep shooting!”
The hurlers stayed back to continue their bombardment of the first line of three outposts, while over 200 smashers and several dozen lieutenants rushed toward them. They banged their oversized stone clubs on the fortifications, inflicting some damage, but then continued to stream through the passages between the walls, barreling past the second line of outposts and the raining projectiles, right at the awaiting army.
The rest of the GreenPiece force – 4,000 hobs, kobolds, Ogres, goblins, bonetises, and players – stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking the way.
Another hail of arrows was launched by the thousand ranged warriors on the ground, momentarily obscuring the approaching enemies in a thick cloud of projectiles.
The bouldites grunted in surprise and pain as they were needled with arrows, but their superior level and toughened skin allowed them to shrug off most of the damage. They charged the sea of enemies awaiting them.
“For the GreenPiece Clan!” Malkyr boomed as he set out at a sprint, leading the countercharge.
The GreenPiece horde followed him, howling with bloodlust. More than 150 Ogre Mages kept pace with the brazen player, then a second wave of Infernal Ogres kicked off after them. A third wave of hob tanks came next, with riders and skirmishers bringing up the rear.
Malkyr’s glowing axe impacted the leading bouldite lieutenant full in the chest, and the impact sent out a sonic explosion that caused the giant’s chest to burst open, breaking its momentum. The lieutenant shook its head as it regained its balance and looked up at the smaller player with a snarl.
Then the wave of Ogre Mages hit all around them. Nearly half of them died as they came crashing into the bigger, heavier, and higher-level smashers and lieutenant, but those that survived were quick to raise their mana shields, rooting themselves as anchors for the rest of their forces. The second wave of Ogres hit, their spiked maces and darkness-dripping claws halting the bouldites. Then the third wave of tanks followed. Taking advantage of the AWC’s Shield Wall ability, the hobs locked their shields together, leaned in, and pushed.
Despite their overpowering advantage, the bouldites found themselves being forced back, pinned against the outposts’ walls behind them. Then the riders streamed past, slashing their weapons, using the momentum of the charge. Before the bouldites could recuperate, 200 kobolds joined the melee, climbing onto their opponents’ bodies, their daggers looking for vulnerabilities and striking home. Goblin adepts stepped in next, healing those still breathing, bringing them back into the fray, or launching drilling arrows.
From his vantage point, Sullivan nodded. Despite their relative weakness, the ground forces’ pressure was keeping the bouldites pinned while they whittled their health away. Since the smashers were level 100 and the lieutenants 130, even at the disadvantageous position they were caught in, they were still too powerful to be killed quickly. But it was looking good. The strategist looked ahead of the front outpost line and grimaced. The hundreds of hurlers, though only level 80, were doing a number on their walls. Since the six fortified buildings weren’t built using obsidian or warded by Oren, they were quickly crumbling under the sustained barrage. “Savol, we need the riders at the front. Like we planned.”
“Savol will do this,” the goblin general said. He shouted some orders to his lieutenant who quickly relayed them to the ground forces.
The host of GreenPiece soldiers was still coming out in waves, hitting their enemies then moving on to make space for the forces behind them. A few commands were issued, and a force of nearly a thousand riders broke off, leaving dozens of bouldite corpses – and hundreds of their own fallen – behind. The riders streamed through the passages between the outposts, pouring out the front. They spread out as soon as they came into the open, but a volley of boulders still took down their numbers considerably. Despite that, the hundreds that survived pounced on the awaiting hurlers, forcing them into melee.
Sullivan cringed as a hurler stopped mid-throw, angling the giant boulder he was holding to cave in a warrior’s skull, but then he was hit by three other riders and fell. The warriors jumped off their mounts, engaging a new target, leaving their bonetises to hack at the downed hurler.
The rain of boulders slowed to a trickle, and the archers resumed their barrage with renewed vigor. The bouldite casualties were mounting as they slowly caved under the sustained and coordinated attacks.
Below him, the army strategist could see Lirian’s dark, glowing sword carving chunks out of the melee enemies with the two golems close by acting as her bodyguards, protecting her sides.
They were going to make it. Sullivan breathed a little easier. The fight was far from over, and they were losing soldiers three times as fast as the enemy, but they were holding the upper hand. As long as nothing bad happened, victory was inevitable.
***
“Damn it, the freakin thing just won’t die,” Fox shouted angrily as he hacked into the smasher he and his team, along with several Novenguard soldiers, were battling.
Misa and Riley stood a little distance away from the fight, concentrating their abilities on keeping the level 100 monstrosity contained while the others hacked away at its health, but it was taking forever.
And there were a thousand others like it.
Not far from them, Nero was battling a hurler by himself, his reinforced claws scoring deep wounds while his wings beat furiously to keep him on the offensive. But everywhere else, things weren’t looking as good.
The first few moments of battle went well. Akzar’s thousands spearheaded the charge, leading the combined forces of 7,000 militia soldiers after them. Their initial charge bit into the enemy lines, allowing their forces to use their number superiority to gang up on their enemies, but then things turned grim.
The bouldites were incredibly tough opponents. Even outnumbered seven to one, they were gaining the upper hand. The hurlers were too engaged in melee to bring their devastating attacks into play, but the smashers pulverized a soldier with every hit, and the lieutenant attacks caused whole groups of soldiers to seize up – the debuff even more severe since the militia force didn’t share the GreenPiece soldiers’ basic mental resistance bonus.
Not all was lost, however. Though the simple soldiers’ numbers were quickly dwindling, a few pockets of elites emerged, giving it back as hard as they were getting it.
Four groups of knights from Whitebanner and Storg, accompanied by teams of high-level mages, were smashing bouldites left and right, dropping one for each one they lost. Novenguard’s force of 500, though not as high-level, consisted of strong soldiers who were highly trained in group tactics, and they used advanced teamwork to hold up their lines, making the enemy pay for every step. Far ahead at the front of the skirmish, Akzar forces battled like berserkers. Hob soldiers fell like wheat, revealing the thorns among them; clusters of groups led by high-level commanders were holding their own, and two large clearings appeared as Broncar and Bonecruncher unleashed their full force, using their powerful boss arsenals to rip the lives from their enemies.
Nero finally gain
ed the upper hand as he tore open his opponent’s chest. The half-dragon opened his mouth and filled the bouldite’s gaping torso with a breath of corrosive spray, melting him from within. The player straightened, taking in the state of the battle.
The hundred or so kobold militia was gone. The smaller hamlet’s forces were also destroyed in the first few clashes. About a third of their force of 7,000 had already been killed while they’d barely taken down a quarter of their enemies.
Nero jumped straight up, flapping his wings to gain a little more altitude to view the battlefield. The half-dragon’s eyes widened as he spotted a force of hurlers getting rid of the last soldier harassing them, picking up giant boulders and turning to look for their next target.
A group of about a dozen knights and a single spellcaster had just finished off the last of the enemies they were battling and now stood in the open. The hurlers let loose as one, and the entire group of high-level soldiers was annihilated, crushed by thousands of kilos of rock.
Nero clenched his fists and concentrated on Akzar’s Overlord ring adorning one of his fingers.
A moment later, Broncar’s roar was heard above the battlefield as the tier 4 boss jumped, covering dozens of meters, toward the dangerous group of hurlers. Instead of plummeting down into them, his body flickered, remaining afloat for a few seconds. Scores of golden glowing spears appeared in the air around him, and they rained down on the bouldites. The rocks fell from the giant creatures’ hands before they could launch another volley as their bodies were riddled with the boss’s deadly projectiles. Like a descending comet, the powerful fighter dropped between the injured and dying hurlers, his spear a blur as he pierced, slashed, and executed his enemies with vengeance.
Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6) Page 35