Emerilia Series Box Set 5

by Michael Chatfield

  The light cannons were much weaker on planets with the interfering atmosphere; as such, their attacks weren’t as powerful as the flying citadels’ by a large margin.

  Dave teleported his blade. Cutting out, he stabbed through where a human’s kidney was located. His chosen victim seemed more enraged than anything as Dave teleported away.

  “Fricking alien biology,” Dave muttered to himself. He increased the gravity of the area, slowing down the reactions of the victim and unleashing Mana bolts so fast that they didn’t have time to react. Their shield took a number of the impacts before the creature leaped forward, a wild look in their eyes.

  Dave’s eyes went wide before he gritted his teeth. He had underestimated his opponent, too confident in his own abilities.

  One of the weapons under his control fell apart and then recombined in milliseconds, unleashing a super dense dart that cut through the air. It struck Dave’s opponent, turning them into a mist.

  Dave had won but there was a grim look on his face as he pulled back from the battle, mentally chastising himself for his actions that had nearly gotten him killed and put him in a disadvantageous position.

  A terrible howling noise filled the sky as the massive needle pillars from Gunboat Isle shot out from portal relays. The noise was incredible as the needles turned into meteors, burning up from the air friction, and smashed against the ground ahead of the Emerilians in an amazing display of destruction.

  Dust was thrown up to the heavens as the ground cracked and fell apart. The underground areas of the emperor’s residence were revealed as more and more rounds smashed into the ground, tearing apart the emperor’s grounds.

  A powerful buzzing noise filled the sky. Dave looked to the arks as the portals along their sides flared with power. Energy beams shot out; spell formations formed and a thin membrane appeared. A Mana shield spread out to cover the Jukal emperor’s residence, encompassing the gardens to the rear and the emperor’s primary palace.

  Jukal orbitals started to launch attacks against the stationary arks, only to find that they were covered by powerful Mana shields themselves. The arks that had spread out now created an impenetrable shield to keep Jukal reinforcements and aid out.

  The Pandoran destroyers, seeing their job was done, turned their bows toward space. The spell formations behind them flared with more power as they left the continent behind, increasing speed over the ocean around it. They tilted upward. The arcane fire engines seemed to explode with power. The water beneath them was turned into craters under their thrust as they shot upward into the skies.

  “Jakan incoming!” Suzy said.

  From the portals, Jakan marched out, leaving their home world behind and coming to the battlefield. As their lead forces came through, they saw the ongoing battle. They increased their pace and a messenger was sent back.

  As the Emerilians had kept their side of the deal, so would they.

  The Emerilians established a beachhead and access for the Jakan. Now the Jakan were filled with excitement. More and more Jakan continued through the portals, marching into battle, joining the lines and replacing the Emerilian fighters.

  They lost more people but with their numbers, they didn’t lose any ground. Instead, they advanced as they brought in more of their support. Their entire force was at a steady advance.

  Dave’s eyes narrowed as he looked to where he sensed powerful auras coming from.

  Thirty or so slaves shot out of the ruins of the battlefield underneath the emperor’s residence. They stood above the destruction like kings overlooking their domain. Behind them was a cadre of powerful experts at their command.

  “Battlefield lords,” Bob said over the party channel. “They’re people capable of making a kingdom within the battlefield that lays under the emperor’s residence. They aren’t to be underestimated.”

  The thirty people’s powerful auras covered the battlefield. The morale of the slave army surged as their attacks increased in speed and ferocity.

  “We’ve fought gods and we’re waging war on the Jukal Empire—what are some battlefield lords?” Lox barked, his words heard by all in the Emerilians forces.

  The Emerilians grit their teeth and fought on.

  Dave didn’t try to focus on the constant stream of people who were being pulled out by healers or being sent back to Ice City via portal to be put back together, or those who were put off to the side, their worries in this life over.

  Fire, Air, and Water’s auras surged to meet the battlefield lords as they moved into the air.

  “Masters, support!” Fire called out. She was the leader of the master’s force, a group of the most powerful people across Emerilia—masters of weapons, the arcane, wielders of Weapons of Power, many of them Legendary figures in the lands that they came from. Among the ranks, there was Party Zero, Denur and some of her direct children, Bob, Fire, Water, Air, Jelanos, and Alamos. There were overseers wearing battle cloaks, dwarven protectors, elves, humans, gnomes, orcs—nearly fifty people from all across Emerilia who held the title of strongest.

  There were two divisions under them, made of another fifty people a piece, bringing their strength to one hundred and fifty.

  “Well, these pricks are going to be a pain.” Steve floated in the sky. Runes shone across his soul gem body as he twirled his axe in his hands.

  The battlefield lords looked at the masters fighting groups, their disdain clear. They were seasoned veterans of battle. Unless someone had been in the battlefield under the emperor’s residence, they didn’t even place them in their eyes.

  Fire took a step forward, Mal beside her. Flames appeared around him, forming into a massive demonic avatar made of flames that towered over Fire.

  “Kill them,” Fire said. The two forces turned into streams of lights as they rushed at the enemy.

  Dave casually pulled out grand workings, activating them and tossing them into the air. They appeared all around him before disappearing with a flash; they reappeared instantly among the battlefield lords.

  Overlapping spell formations unleashed curses on the battlefield lords as their spell formations started to form, aiming to attack the Emerilian masters.

  The grand workings only needed moments to activate as the enemies’ spell formations took more time to create.

  The battlefield lords cried out in rage as they felt multiple curses fall on their bodies. Their power surged, trying to get rid of the curses and hexes directly affecting this combat ability.

  Spells clashed between them. Terrifying Mana ripples and shock waves blasted through the night sky.

  There was only time for one exchange of spells before the two forces clashed. The powerful impacts and strikes were enough to kill anyone in an instant if they allowed it through their defense.

  Even Dave’s eyes went wide as he saw the overwhelming power of the battlefield lords. He was reminded of the time that they had gone up against the fifty or so elites of the Xelur clan, giving them no time to voice their regrets as they pounded them into nothing with constant spell formation and artillery cannon fire.

  The slaves’ army opened up as they were being pushed back. Under the flying citadels’ support, the Emerilian forces started to advance at an even faster rate.

  The sky became a deadly place as the Aleph aerial batteries went to work and the aerial fighting forces that were using the tower rushed out to aid their allies already engaged in combat.

  Dave dodged out of the way of a spear. The air of the spear pushed against his armor’s Mana barrier, pushing him backward. He disappeared from where he was. A bow formed in his hands as he fired at the spear-wielding battlefield lord that had appeared.

  A roar that shook the heavens sounded out around Bob. A resplendent atmosphere filled the sky. He turned into a gray blur; his claws lurched out, weaving through the battlefield lord’s defenses and tearing them apart.

  Dave saw the cold smile on Jung Lee’s face. His body was wreathed in gray smoke as he combined the six Affinity spiri
ts that were in his body, reaching new heights of power.

  Dave’s opponent moved with lightning speed, their spear elusive, quick, and powerful at the same time, seemingly like a snake bobbing around as it looked at its prey. He advanced on Dave, who was feeling just a little bit pressured.

  Dave let out a shout as the man got closer. His voice was greatly amplified, making the spear wielder grunt. But injuries were nothing new to him; instead, anger surfaced on his face, as if annoyed with himself for being injured by such a lowly being.

  Dave disappeared and reappeared. In his hands, a cannon appeared, the barrel next to his opponent’s face. The cannon glowed with resplendent light, firing out a grand working shell that tore through the opponent’s head like paper.

  “Overkill much?” Steve barked.

  Dave didn’t say anything as weapons and parts started coming out from his items of holding. The items that had been hovering in the air supporting the forces now shot to Dave. The panels came together and the vault soul gems added to one another as a torso built around Dave; then shoulders, a neck, lower legs. The parts came together like some grand puzzle, forming into a massive person.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Steve yelled, looking at the goddamn magical mecha Dave had created. “When the shit did you have time to build that?” Steve complained. “Trying to become a damn Transformer?”

  Dave’s power surged as he rushed forward into a group of the battlefield lords and their retinues. A blade formed in his hands and tore through the sky with a howl. Dozens died in the attack as he teleported into the air. The gravity under his feet increased. Those who weren’t allied with them dropped to the ground, their eyes bulging out at the pressure that rained down on them. Dave waved his hand imperiously, throwing out pins into the sky. Behind them, spell formations activated as they shot toward the ground in a deadly shining rain.

  Dave conjured another sword, leaving a path of death behind him as the pins ended those who had been below his feet.

  The cannon on his shoulder fired. The shell slammed into a defensive structure on the ground. He teleported away. Once again, the battlefield lords barely held any interest to him, the basic fighting forces nothing more than ants to him in his most powerful form as the cannons and orbs around him unleashed spells and enchanted shells upon the Jukal defenses. His display of overpowering might made those on the battlefield tremble in fear.

  They had lived fighting one another, but seeing the ease with which Dave destroyed their lines, their morale plummeted.

  “Someone jealous?” Suzy yelled.

  “Think he’s making up for something?” Gurren asked Lox slyly, over the party chat.

  “Well, screw this!” Steve yelled. He disappeared from the battlefield as Dave finished forming his new body that was fifteen meters tall, covered in runic lines. It looked like a much larger version of the Devastator armor, except it was covered in orbs at its joints and there were two massive cannons mounted next to his head.

  “Excuse me—coming through. What’s the right of way with a portal?” Steve asked.

  “Go through the other way, dumbass!” Lox yelled back.

  “Be back in a mo!” Steve said sweetly. Steve disappeared through the ship portal that was allowing the flying citadels through.

  “Wait!” Lox barked.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Deia asked.

  No one said anything, as if collectively shrugging, and continued on fighting.

  Around Dave, gray smoke seemed to cover his massive war machine. The gravity was much higher and it was harder for the battlefield lords and their minions to control their Mana.

  Dave brandished two swords in his hands. “I’m getting that damn weapons master class!” He roared and disappeared from where he had been. His body flashed as he appeared next to a fighter. His sword lashed out, aiming to cleave them in two; they dodged, and struck out. A Mana bolt shot out from one of the orbs, vaporizing their shield as needles that had been hidden from them shot out. Their body withered away and fell into dust. Their power rushed toward Dave, being absorbed by his mecha.

  “I thought you were a conjuration mage!” Suzy asked.

  “Ah, well, I’d say I’m more of a crafter,” Dave replied.

  “You took a fantasy-class mage and you turned it into a techno mage,” Malsour said.

  “Guess so,” Dave said.

  “This is broken, so broken,” Gurren said.

  “Will you just shut up and fight? Don’t worry—the terrible techno mage is all just an illusion,” Lox said, as if he were the authority on it.

  “I really don’t want to do my maths again to learn all this techno stuff,” Gurren said.

  “Fat chance of that,” Jung Lee said.

  “Look, even the samurai-possessed ghost dude alchemist is arguing!” Gurren said, sounding depressed.

  Even as they talked, they were fighting the battlefield lords and their minions to their limits. The fights weren’t easy, but on the party chat, they could talk freely. They weren’t the most normal batch of people when it came to being in fights.

  “How have we survived this long?” Induca asked in a voice filled with curiosity.

  “I have no idea,” Deia said.

  “Can someone help me with this druid? He looks like the world’s most messed-up potted garden rolled into one! I don’t know if he’s trying to get a pruning or saying hello.” Gurren sounded confused.

  Deia and Induca turned. Deia’s bow created layered spell formations and aimed the arrow at Gurren’s opponent that looked like some vine, tree, shrub, and herb garden, making it scream out in pain as it fought against the Fire spell that was contained within the arrow.

  “That’s not a druid. Druids take on the shape of animals!” Dave said as Induca’s fireball landed.

  “Fine! It’s a holy, burning, plant-changing weirdo-twig!” Gurren said as the creature was now indeed on fire in a spectacular manner.

  “More importantly...” Jung Lee paused as he weaved through a defense of a minion bending backward. His right palm reached out to touch the minion; a flash of white light appeared as the minion was hurled to the side by the spell Jung Lee had insta-cast. Jung Lee moved in a flash and his blade pierced through the minion before he continued on. “What is Steve doing?”

  “Good point,” Anna said.

  “Shit,” Lox said.

  “I’m not getting him this time,” Malsour said.

  “Who’s Steve? I don’t know a Steve,” Gurren said.

  “So, Dave, what inspired you to make your magical mecha of doom?” Anna asked.

  “I’m putting the blame of this on anime,” Dave said. His body shifted to the side, escaping a swipe as he rushed forward. His twin swords rippled in the air. Air blades hit his opponent; he teleported, unleashing Mana bolts from one side, then needles from another. He teleported from place to place, overwhelming the battlefield minion.

  “Incoming!” Induca said.

  Flames appeared around Dave as he quickly dodged away. He had been so focused on the battlefield lord he hadn’t noticed the three minions trying to hit him from behind. As he disappeared, their attacks landed on the battlefield lord.

  Arrows pierced through two of the minions, others following the third.

  “No one hits my fiancé!” Deia yelled.

  Malsour’s claws shot out shadows through the air, hitting the battlefield lord and tearing them apart.

  Lu Lu unleashed a lightning attack on them. Dave’s cannon fired; the explosion covered where the battlefield lord had been until the bloodied lord came shooting out of the cloud left by the explosion. Bob appeared behind it. Just as it started to turn around, a look of shock and fear on its face, a claw tore through their back and chest before pulling out, leaving a ragged hole in the lord’s chest.

  Deia’s arrow broke the third minion’s defenses. They were set aflame as they dropped toward the ground.

  “Miss me?” Steve’s voice rang through the party chat as they all l
ooked to the portal that he had exited through.

  “Oh, come on! You look ridiculous!” Gurren said as Steve, a new eighteen-meter-tall Steve, stepped out from the portal.

  “Ah shit!” Steve yelled as he fell out of the portal. His runic lines flared to life, not before he crashed into the ground, leaving behind a crater.

  He soared up into the sky, bits of rubble and dirt on him. He no longer wore the Devastator armor but instead had armor made from soul gem composites and a new axe.

  “I thought you loved Alex the Axe,” Lox said.

  “Well, this is Alex the Axe the second,” Steve huffed, sounding more like a petulant child than an eighteen-meter-tall monstrosity.

  “Let’s keep advancing. We still have a lot of distance to cover.” Deia shook her head. To anyone else, they might seem downright insane.

  “Woo-hoo, Weapons Master Three!” Dave yelled, sharing a message with the others as his power took another step upward. Nothing could even attempt to stand in his way. He flashed across the sky, his weapons transforming in his hands. With every appearance, dozens fell from the sky. He was an unstoppable god of war.

  Deia glanced at what he had shared.

  Quest: Weapons Master Level 4

  One handed and shield 1000/1000

  Two handed 1000/1000

  Dual wielding 1000/1000

  Archery 1000/1000

  Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest

  +20 Vitality

  +10 Endurance

  +15 Strength

  +15 Agility

  +300,000 EXP

  Passive skills from other weapons increase from 25% to 50% when designated weapon is not equipped. (Example: While using Dual-wield blades, one is able to gain 50% of the archery skill’s abilities.)

  Class: Weapons Master

  Status:

  Level 5

  Effects:

  +100 to Vitality

  +50 Endurance

  +75 Strength

  +75 Agility