Emerilia Series Box Set 5

by Michael Chatfield

  Party Zero looked to one another. They were once again waiting next to a drop chute. Everyone was seated as the citadels advanced on the portal location and moved between the Terra Alliance-controlled citadels.

  “Prepare for drop!”

  The two seated groups stood and turned, forming a line that faced the drop chute and its red light.

  “Check drop packs!”

  They checked the person in front of them, making sure that the drop pack was secured. There were no mistakes or issues.

  “Ready!” the drop master said, listening to their party chat where the different drop masters were talking.

  The chute opened and wind pulled at those waiting to drop inside. The light beside the chute snapped over to green.

  “Drop, drop, drop!” Before they had said the second drop, the first person jumped down the chute, crossing their arms as the chute guided them out of the flying citadel and toward the ground below.

  The line moved forward swiftly. Soon it was Dave’s turn. He jumped down the chute. An overlay showed him different way points he needed to hit in order to make it down to the ground with Party Zero.

  He looked around him. Hundreds of people with drop packs rained out from the citadel as drop pads rushed past. Streamers of air currents that were broken in their passing lit their trail as they rushed toward the ground. The magical coding lit up as soon as they came close to the ground in order to reduce the impact of the fall.

  Dave concentrated on his flight path, increasing his speed as he shot through the various way points ahead of him. He could see the forces that had already moved out of the citadels and were now lined up in formations, ready to clear out the Uoue that they faced.

  Dave flipped, his speed greatly reducing as he touched down on the ground. Steve, Gurren, and Lox smashed into the ground. Dirt exploded out from around them. Malsour and Induca, in their dragon form, remained in the sky, banking over the formations. Aerial forces moved around them, operating as one unit in direct support of the dragons.

  The weapons on the leading edge of the flying citadels scanned the ground. Here and there, they fired at the ground, exploding before the gathered forces of the Terra Alliance, announcing the death of some Uoue that had been discovered by the flying citadel groups’ sensors.

  Deia, Induca, and Jung Lee landed easily; their heads on a swivel and searching the battlefield ahead of them.

  The different forces that had dropped from the flying citadels were getting organized. Different drums, horns, and the sound of leaders yelling at their soldiers rang through the air as formations were pulled together and then moved up to the line or moved into supporting positions behind the front lines.

  It was a complicated manoeuvre but they pulled it off seamlessly.

  Dave looked to Deia, noticing the hidden look of pride in her eyes. After all, she had been in charge of training all of the men and women who made up the drop forces of the flying citadels. As the first group made it down, the drop pads were already returning to the flying citadels for the reserve forces that were being brought up from Terra in support. There were three onos in the surrounding citadels. Even now there was a great shortage of onos throughout all of Emerilia, resulting in them not being able to meet all the needs of the various citadels that were around the portals. It also meant that they were unable to link all of Emerilia.

  “One day I’ll get that class upgrade for linking all of Emerilia together,” Dave muttered to himself.

  “Prepare to move out! Detection mages and scouts to the front! Protect them and follow their commands!” the leader of the assault forces said.

  Already the DCA mages with powerful detection spells, as well as the elven rangers and those with the best detection abilities, had been littered throughout the formations to make sure that none of the Uoue would make it past their lines.

  Dave pulled up a picture of the Uoue. Their skin looked like bark; it had the ability to change form slightly and it could change color. They had an innate ability to make them nearly undetectable by magic and hard to see with an untrained eye. Most people wouldn’t know that there were Uoue around until they stepped on one and were killed.

  They had a central body and four limbs. They splayed out on the ground, waiting for when their prey would come past and then snap together, impaling their prey. Not only were their ambushing abilities great, their physical strength was enough to get through most S-classed armors.

  They were able to extend thorn-like protrusions from their hands that they used to pierce their enemies or fight them. Fighting them was like fighting a buzz saw that had intelligence; every move was done with the force to pulverize and the accuracy to kill in one hit. They were not an enemy to be underestimated those that did, would not live to underestimate them again.

  The area they were in was inhospitable, a mix of gray sand and slate rocks that could easily make anyone lose their footing. Among this, the Uoue waited. It could be considered a perfect hunting ground for them.

  As soon as the force was all assembled, they moved forward, taking it slowly so that they wouldn’t be surprised by the Uoue and their tricks.

  Whenever one of the scouts or detection mages noticed something, they would get an attack mage to drop destructive spells on the location. This happened more and more as they moved closer to the portal. A number of times, there was nothing there but no one complained about wasting a bit of Mana instead of getting torn apart by the Uoue.

  The citadels hovered above, with the aerial forces seeing if they could spot anything from above. The citadels fired down a few times, throwing up the dust and bits of the slate into the sky and obscuring the ground. This reduced as time went on for fear of giving the Uoue an advantage with all the dust and debris.

  The aerial forces also stopped dropping their larger scale weapons of destruction or spells, moving to use their bows, repeaters, and other weapons that wouldn’t cause the battlefield to be covered in dust and debris.

  Dave frowned. Unseen, he released two orbs from his left hand hidden underneath his cloak. The orbs disappeared as soon as they made contact with the air and shot out from Dave. There was no sign of their passing as Dave showed no signs of doing anything out of the ordinary.

  However, on his mini-map, red dots started to appear, telling of the Uoue waiting for the advancing assault force.

  Dave moved a series of bracelets on his armband, connecting to the flying citadels and sending them commands, unlocking part of the abilities that they weren’t supposed to have. They wouldn’t be as accurate as they would be when fully active; however, they would give those in the flying citadels and those on the ground a better idea of where the Uoue were hiding.

  Spells started to fly as more and more Uoue pockets were wiped out.

  The dust increased and a distorting feeling seemed to fall over Dave’s senses as he used his Touch of the Land spell. Dave shook his head, slightly dizzy. His mind cleared as he looked up and down the lines of people. They also seemed to be in a sort of stupor, moving mechanically while the scouts looked confused and shook their heads.

  They were walking in the fog created by the explosions from earlier, though the effects from this dust shouldn’t have been anything to make Dave feel confused.

  “Deia, send out a wave of flame—see if you burn anything,” Dave said in a hurried voice.

  Deia didn’t ask and did as he said. A wave of fire extended from her hand. As it passed through the sky, flames were left burning different areas. The sky filled with slowly moving flames that turned green instead of the red from Deia’s hands.

  “What the hell is that?” the assault forces commander demanded.

  “The Uoue put something in the air. I felt that there was something funny going on with my head. The Uoue don’t use magic, so they must be using some sort of poison or organic. I had someone shoot out fire—seems that they’re sending out some kind of compound to reduce our sensitivity to Mana while also making us more sluggish,” Dave said quic
kly.

  There was a sound of scraping and rapid footsteps as slate broke ahead of the assault formation.

  “Everyone, take your positions!” the commander said.

  From the dust and debris, the Uoue charged forth. Their bodies looked like the gray sand and slate that the assault formation was walking through. They didn’t make any noise other than their footsteps as they broke through the slate. Their razor-sharp appendages stuck out, ready to carve anyone in front of them apart.

  The aerial forces came in without having to be told, laying down their attacks into the charging Uoue. Formation commanders called out orders as dwarven shield walls slammed into place. Ranged attackers unleashed their attacks together; the waves of Uoue were met with spells that tore them apart, with the power of Mana bolts, lightning that descended from the sky, or any of the other attacks that the Terra Alliance forces knew.

  The charging Uoue fell under these attacks but they were still advancing. They didn’t make any noise as they died.

  The ranged beasts that had been contracted to the dwarven warclans and also the other members of the Terra Alliance unleashed their attacks.

  The Uoue took heavy losses, but with their unnatural speed and agility, they continued to advance bloody meter by bloody meter. Without the aid of shields or barriers, they were unable to defend against the oncoming attacks, only dodging if they were given the chance.

  A half dozen orbs appeared above Party Zero. Lox, Gurren, and Dave used their orbs to target the Uoue, sending Mana bolt after Mana bolt into their formations. Under these destructive attacks, the air continued to be filled with more and more debris, making it harder for the Terra Alliance forces to see the Uoue that continued their charge.

  The first Uoue met the dwarven lines that stood at the front of the alliance’s assault formation. A Uoue made a massive leap, covering fifteen meters in one go, and landed on the dwarves. Its appendages dug through the shields, hitting those below. Pained cries rang out as the Uoue pierced the dwarves below and dropped into the dwarven shield formation.

  It spun and moved in impossible ways. With each and every movement, armor was pierced and blood let out into the sky. As it was attacking, the dwarves were also fighting back, their swords hacking at the Uoue.

  “Use Mana shields!” a dwarven warclan leader yelled out. With the Mana barriers, the Uoue weren’t moving fast enough to trigger the Mana barrier, nor were they using magical attacks.

  With the Mana shields, more of them weren’t making it into the dwarven formations and after hitting the Mana shields over the dwarves, they shot forward toward those behind the dwarves. A number of them were cut down in this desperate dash; a few got through here and there. The players stepped up, clashing with the Uoue. They were incredibly fast, needing multiple tanks to fight them to deal with the damage while others wore them down or landed a killing blow. The dwarves finally defeated the last Uoue in their formations and started to push their wounded to the rear. The front lines could do nothing in the Mana shield, unable to attack but completely safe. They were merely an annoying obstacle that the Uoue had to climb over to get at those behind them.

  With every step the Uoue took, their pointed appendages stabbed into the Mana shield that the dwarves were using. Combined with the power in their bodies and their weight, they were doing heavy damage to the protections that the warclans had laid down.

  The mounted forces worked to move people from the battlefield and reacted to the areas where the Uoue were the thickest. Overhead, the flying citadels fired at the area ahead of the assault force. Still more of the Uoue seemed to appear from out of the fog created by the impacts, slamming into the assault force.

  “Go back to whence you came!” Steve barked. His axe smashed forward and hit an Uoue in mid-air. Steve, who had jumped up to head them off, was also thrown back by the impact of his weapon. He used his feet and free hand to slow his momentum; as soon as he had come to a stop, he rushed forward again. “What insane bastard came up with killer trees with sword feet and arms!? I’d like to hit him over the head with Alex!”

  Dave cracked a smile, hearing some life come back into Steve’s words.

  The dragons came in low and dangerous, unleashing their attacks that destroyed swathes of the Uoue with every pass.

  Deia was using her bow, hitting Uoue that came into her range. Her hands were a blur as red streaks tore through the Uoue.

  Lox and Gurren were on either side of Dave, using all of the orbs as well as their hands to unleash Mana bolts on the Uoue, providing support to those fighting at the front.

  Stone Raiders and players led the charge against the Uoue, figuring out how to fight them as they crossed the dwarven formations.

  Jung Lee flashed through the sky. The Uoue were no different than chickens in front of him. He could easily kill them, but their numbers were vast and the area that they were spread over was too large for him to be everywhere at once.

  Suzy’s creations engaged with the Uoue, holding them down and suppressing them to give the reacting forces the time they needed to get to the scene.

  Dave felt the loss of Anna and Jekoni. The balance of the party felt off. Instead of wallowing in his pain, he fought harder.

  Howling noises came from above as spears conjured miles upward dropped down toward the battlefield. They smashed into the ground. A shock wave shot out from the impact craters, the Uoue nearby torn apart by the kinetic force while the air was temporarily cleared of dust and debris.

  “Move into war parties! Staggered!” the warclan leader called out across the assault force.

  The dwarven formations pulled apart and moved into their five shield bearer war parties, allowing them greater mobility and to focus on themselves instead of working with the entire dwarven formation.

  “Players and those with Weapons of Power, move to support the frontline formations!” the assault force commander called out.

  Party Zero stood at the extreme rear of the dwarves. They were still covered by the Mana shield, making it impossible for them to enter the dwarven formations as shields came apart and the dwarves moved as one, leaving large gaps between each of the war parties.

  “Mana shield coming down!” the dwarven warclan leader yelled out.

  The thick and substantial Mana shield disappeared. The Uoue that had been on top of the shield fell down to the ground.

  The dwarves yelled out as they attacked the Uoue, working in their war parties. Players and those with Weapons of Power let out yells as they charged forward into the melee.

  Party Zero was part of this force. Dave activated his flying runes and floated into the sky. From his hands, Mana bolts tore through the sky, each with enough force to melt through a foot of tempered steel, any less force wouldn’t kill a Uoue.

  The Uoue liked to lead with jumping attacks and fall on their enemies, stunning them and slaughtering those within range of their limbs. The Uoue were like a surging tide smashing against the dwarven warclans.

  The ranged members of the Terra Alliance unleashed their abilities filling the skies with colourful but deadly attacks.

  Dave didn’t need to directly act as Uoue came into his sphere of influence with his high Intelligence attribute he could command a few dozen orbs without any strain as they acted as floating Mana bolt throwers.

  This, combined with the other sensor orbs he had released secretly, allowed him to clearly see all of the battlefield, much clearer than anyone else.

  Lox and Gurren were just starting to test out the new floating orbs. They weren’t as good with them as Dave but the added Mana bolts were no less deadly as they raked the Uoue’s front lines.

  With the dust and debris, a number of the attacks weren’t hitting the Uoue and instead were wasted into the ground. The Uoue seemed to have gone all out as they turned the dwarven formations into a sea of chaos. The sounds of close combat rang out over the lines.

  “Players, form up at the front!” a new voice yelled out.

  Dave’s he
ad whipped around in recognition of it. Josh had been the one speaking. From the Terra-controlled citadels, players from the Stone Raiders and other allied guilds charged forward.

  At this time, there were nearly forty percent of the players on Emerilia fighting as part of the Terra Alliance, with nearly sixty percent of them having a relationship with the Stone Raiders Guild.

  The Stone Raiders led the charge through the assault formations, hoping to draw the attention onto themselves and away from the POEs.

  “Move with them—we’ll push back the Uoue!” Deia yelled out.

  Party Zero was swept up in the wave of players. The Uoue that had been leaping to attack the dwarven war parties were now ruthlessly cut down as the players, filled with fighting spirit, collided with the Uoue that were in close combat with the dwarves. Riled up with the excitement of the battle, the players were a powerful force, showing off fighting skills and abilities that left the POEs stunned.

  Dave moved the different sliders on his arms as he tapped out things on his interface, unlocking different things within the flying citadels and creating some magical coding that could help out the forces on the ground. He sent it to the commander of the Goblin Mountain’s flying citadel second wing leader.

  He grabbed his two conjuration rods. “Time for a special brew!” Gray smoke appeared around the two of them as he held them out like a T in front of himself, flicking the different bands on the conjuration rods.

  The smoke formed what looked to be two crossbows that had been stuck together bottom to bottom. There were intricate runic lines on either side. Gray smoke wafted out from the runes. Dave raised the crossbow. He took a breath; the runic lines of his Lux armor and the attached cloak grew brighter as the runic lines on his hood and across his body lit up.