Gentleman's Wars 2: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series

by Andrew Karevik

  “I have Casus Belli,” I replied. “This wasn’t some unprovoked action. You declared intent to invade me should I not accept your terms. Striking first isn’t dishonorable.”

  “Not dishonorable, no,” the Baron agreed. “But so utterly stupid that I am at a loss. You realize now that I will come at you with the full force of my realm, correct?”

  “And you weren’t going to before?” I asked. There was silence at that. Nothing but the sound of the next swarm arriving.

  A Siege Golem came thundering in, collapsing to the ground and preparing to make its voyage. Curiously though, this one did not have the basic defense shell that most everyone took. This meant that my Thorn Towers were perfectly free to whip at it, firing batch after batch of huge spikes. The armor piercing effect of the towers allowed them to do full damage to the golem.

  But before I could do a victory dance at this oversight, I realized that each time the Siege Golem took damage it would glow bright red for a moment. That couldn’t be a good sign. Just as I noticed this, the next group of enemies arrived, four tall golems, more humanoid than the others, made mostly of white soapstone. Each one carried a long staff made of the same white stone, with a bright green mana crystal atop it, jagged and glowing.

  Regeneration Golems! These support units healed nearby golems in order of most important to least important. They did no damage, but they certainly would keep this Siege Golem alive for the entire fight. And since there were four of them, they could all heal each other. That was trouble.

  The twin Thorn Towers recharged their spikes and fired some more, hitting all of the Regeneration Golems at once. But green bursts of mystic energy zipped from their staffs, immediately repairing the damage done. The Siege Golem began to slowly rise as the two-minute mark seemed to just fly by and worst of all, it was at full health.

  The large golem shook itself once, almost like a dog getting rain off of its back, then began to storm forward at a surprisingly fast rate. This wasn’t as quick as the charging variant that Joeth had used against me, but the pace was still almost double the speed of the normal Siege Golem. The Regeneration Golems followed behind, zapping it constantly with healing energy, easily able to keep up pace with the burly beast.

  As they turned the first corner, the Phlogiston Cannon began to release its flames, washing over the enemy forces for a brief second. The heat was enough to kill two of the Regeneration Golems, out-damaging their ability to heal. But the others were able to get through, healing themselves and the fast-moving siege beast.

  At this point, ten more enemies showed up, more Boulder Golems, though this time escorted by a regeneration ally. I was quick to respond to this, putting the Target Marker on the new Regeneration Golem instantly. All of the ballistae fired at once, killing it before it could heal. The Thorn Towers and flame cannon took care of the rest of the Boulder Golems.

  “Hot damn! That is what I want to see!” Joeth said. “Oh! That reminds me, I gotta give you that prize for winning the first round against me.”

  “Will it help me right now?” I asked.

  “No…”

  “Then shut up about it, I’m trying to think!” I snapped. Harsh, yes, but unduly so? Eh, Joeth was a big boy, he could take some nastiness.

  “You’re the boss,” he replied, chuckling to himself. His voice and laughter faded as I continued to focus on the rapidly-encroaching Siege Golem. Would the tri-beams work here? I swallowed hard in anticipation.

  The seven towers all lit up at once, zeroing in on the large Siege Golem as it continued to thunder towards its destination. A few beams, however, chose the Regeneration Golems as targets, cutting their health down so fast that both enemy units fell neatly in half, as if someone had used scissors on their midsections. But for all that damage, the Siege Engine continued forward, armor barely tickled by their hits. I took a deep breath and readied the Attraction Ping as it approached the first Berserker Golem. The designated champion.

  The heavy Berserker Golem raised its mighty stone axe and began to glow bright red as it engaged the enemy Siege Golem. It spun the axe around in a 360 degree maneuver, using the twirl to build up momentum before slamming the large weapon into the side of the passing creature’s leg. The blow was so hard that the Siege Golem’s health dropped 20%, despite the armor soaking up the hit.

  The champion berserker continued to follow the target, each swing taking a massive chunk from the Siege Golem’s health until finally, it reached the top of the map only to be greeted by my armor piercing Thorn Towers. A burst of spikes later and the Siege Golem crumbled to pieces.

  I wiped the sweat from my brow, then glanced at the timer. 2 minutes left? That whole thing had been thirteen minutes? I…I was going to pull this off! I was going to do it! But before I could let out a victorious sigh of relief, another swarm of enemies arrived. Just as Joeth had predicted, it was nearly 25 Chase Golems. The little buggers came out at the exact time my towers had fired off all their spikes, rendering them unable to defend the area.

  These little golems were so nimble and quick that one blink was all it took for me to miss them climbing past two sets of barricades to reach the center area. Fortunately, the Phlogiston Cannons’ sensors didn’t need to blink, allowing the twin flame cannons to release endless bursts of heat, eradicating the entire squadron in a matter of seconds.

  The timer continued to tick down as I waited for the next wave to charge out. “I didn’t…errgg, not enough time…” the Baron grumbled. Suddenly, the entire map flashed bright white and then…everything was gone. The barricades, the towers, my golems and the extraction unit, all gone. Enemy forfeit. Extraction complete! Yield: 2,200 mana crystals. 4,970 silver. Rank Up!

  It was over? I had won, getting back my investment and obtaining two-thousand crystals. That was a veritable fortune. Enough to easily set up a high-powered defense! My hands were shaking from such a victory and my headache seemed to fade, just for a moment. I had won my first raid!

  “I suppose now would be a good time for us to talk,” the Baron said, his stern and disappointed voice pulling me back to reality. He didn’t seem terribly angry, though I couldn’t actually see his face, so there was no way to tell what his actual emotions were. “For you are on very thin ice.”

  I shouldn’t gloat here. There was no value in showing off, acting like I was the superior man. This was not a competition, but a real struggle for survival. Humility needed to dominate me here. “Is that so? Because I just took a pretty large amount of crystals from right under your nose,” I bragged. Damn it, Richard! What was all that talk about humility for? But I just couldn’t help myself. I was tired of always being worried about my opponents. Maybe for once I wanted them to worry about me.

  “That you did. A commendably brave action, though equally foolish,” Jerem continued. “For now you must realize that honor demands I return the favor. Whatever chances you had to parley with me before the ultimatum have vanished alongside those crystals. Unless…” he trailed off for a moment, as if wanting me to finish the sentence. But I would give him no satisfaction. Instead I just remained silent.

  “Unless you were willing to perhaps hand those back to me. Along with the information about where the rest of Efera’s caches are located,” he said, agitated that I had not played along with him.

  “What’s the offer?” I asked.

  “Clemency for this foolish stunt. And another week before you have to make a decision,” he said. “That sounds more than fair, considering the situation.”

  Just as I figured. He had no real interest in making an actual deal. He just wanted to bluster as if he would win no matter what. “I’m afraid that just isn’t possible, Baron,” I said. “You came to my home with an army and threatened me. You demanded that I hand over a family member. I know nothing would dissuade you from invading me. Harboring an enemy claimant is cause for Casus Belli. You have every right to break down my door and punish me and my allies.”

  There
was silence for a time. “I wouldn’t have to, if you just complied. Maybe you did this out of desperation, but face it, Richard, you won’t win. Is it really worth throwing away your budding new gentry for the Crystal Bitch?”

  “Her name is Juliet. And she’s family,” I replied. “The Blakes take care of their own. No matter the cost. I will see you on the battlefield in a few days.” And with that, I cut off the communication, not giving him a chance to respond. Hopefully he wouldn’t suspect I’d be hitting him again within the next hour.

  Chapter 29

  “You sure you want to do this?” Joeth asked as I dry heaved once more. The cool air from the outside was soothing to my sweat-soaked brow but did little to prevent my illness from taking full hold. “We should get you to a doctor.”

  “Nigel’s as good as any doctor,” I replied, dry heaving once more. I had never felt this sick before in my life. Well, not from a sickness I didn’t induce upon myself by mixing the wrong ingredients together.

  I don’t really know what happened. One moment, I was moving the Grid over to the next point of attack; the next, I was overtaken by an intense wave of both nausea and head sickness. So bad that I was forced to close the Grid and lay on the ground for several minutes. I knew that this had something to do with my mysterious sickness that would eventually prevent me from working as a Grid Commander. But why was it advancing so quickly?

  Behind me, I could hear the clinking of glasses as Nigel prepared some kind of concoction. With a bit of alchemy, I’d be able to suppress the sickness, at least until I had stolen the next round of crystals. I had already managed to grab 2,000. Getting even more would be icing atop this very large cake.

  “Okay, just a dash of brandy and a splash of soda water,” Nigel said as he vigorously shook a container. “And we are good to go. Come get your gob over here and taste Nigel’s’ Instant Hangover Relief!”

  “I’m not hung over,” I replied, pulling my head out of the office window and staggering over to the man. Nigel seemed to be better dressed than usual, wearing a snazzy blue button-down coat, complete with some kind of medal hanging above the front pocket.

  “Well, the symptoms are the same, nausea, headache, an intense regret about what you did the night before… This brew will fix most of those problems,” he said as he offered me the tall glass bottle. The concoction was bright blue and fizzing violently, emitting enough steam that anyone with half a brain would hesitate to drink it. I downed the whole thing in one gulp, too sick to even tell what the ingredients were by taste.

  “Mix one up for me, will you? But without all the alchemical stuff,” Joeth requested. He was still standing by the window, leaning against the wall. Though he was trying to be snarky, I could see deep lines of worry below his eyes. He was concerned about my state.

  Yet, Nigel’s brew kicked in after a mere ten seconds and I felt a wave of vitality surge through my system, seemingly pushing the sickness out (or at the very least staving it off for now!) “By Polaris, I feel amazing!” I said, standing straight up. The pain in my stomach was gone and the pounding in my skull reduced to a mere dull ache. It was as if all of the fog of my mind had been burned away by the searing power of Nigel’s alchemy.

  “Great! Let’s check the symptoms,” Nigel said, pulling out his journal.

  “No time,” I replied, returning back to my desk. “Make a few more, in case I need them during the battle. But I’ve got a heist to pull off.”

  Nigel exchanged a glance with Joeth, concern written across his own face. Even the man’s golem hand made a motion that I shouldn’t do such a thing, raising itself up and wagging a finger at me. “He won’t listen to me,” my instructor mumbled.

  “Don’t talk like I’m not in the room,” I said. “You’re both making a big deal out of some stomach trouble and a headache. I’ll be fine, at least for the next hour. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve work to do.”

  Without giving either of them a chance to respond, I quickly pulled the Grid, taking full advantage of my revitalized state. Now that the Baron knew I had access to the location of the caches, he would undoubtedly be searching the map for a potential trove site. Or, he might just start placing basic security around all of the empty lots, ensuring I’d have no way to raid, since I didn’t have the logistical capacity to reach the next target with actual foot soldiers.

  Fortunately, it seemed that my worst fears had not yet been realized. The Rolling Hillwoods were completely quiet, with no construction orders placed. Only the Watchtower sat in the middle of the forest.

  “Now, since your opponent has a Watchtower in range, he’s going to get a warning when you commit to the raid,” Joeth said. “The first fight, you took him completely by surprise. You’re not going to catch him with his pants down on this one. He’ll have enough time to prepare a reasonable attack. And my suspicion is that his ego will demand him to come at you with everything he has, just to deny you those resources. And…well, you’ll also be tipping him off to where those crystals are hidden. This means if you lose, not only do you lose your investment, but you lose those crystals as well.”

  That information caused my hand to stop from pressing the Raid button. I hadn’t considered that. Without my attack on this area, finding the crystal cache would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. He had too many empty lots from his recent acquisition. Perhaps it was the healing effect of the brew, but reason began to slowly whisper at my ears, telling me not to do this. It was one thing to be cocky during a fight, or even after you won but…winning one didn’t guarantee I’d win the next. And wagering 5,000 silver again, against an enemy who was downright pissed with me…plus my illness could manifest at any time?

  “Damn it,” I hissed, closing the Grid. “A second attack so quickly isn’t a good idea.”

  “Funny, I’ve been trying to tell you that for the last hour,” Joeth said. “Maybe the brew actually did heal that broken brain of yours.”

  “I could really use those extra crystals though,” I confessed, sighing deeply. The healing concoction seemed to be ebbing rather quickly and I felt the feverish symptoms begin to return. The pain came back to my skull, almost twice as strong as before. I needed to take a break from the Grid.

  Well…there was more than one way to skin a cat. Perhaps what I needed most right now was a partner in crime. Someone who could take the heat off of me while I committed the raid. Perhaps I could get my dear nephew-in-law Nelson to stage an attack against the Baron’s property, then conduct the raid in the middle of the battle. Or maybe my Magistrate had found some kind of weak link in the Baron’s unsecured allies. Someone on the inside who could just physically reach the territory and dig up the treasure. After all, the Watchtower only paid attention to Grid activity, right?

  “Nigel, send for the Magistrate, have him prepare a briefing of potential allies in the Baron’s territory,” I said, trying to stand up. My knees buckled and I found myself right back where I was sitting.

  “After he gets some sleep,” Joeth said, grabbing me and hoisting me up. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

  I didn’t fight him at this point. I had been pushing myself far too hard lately and such a behavior seemed to be compounding my illness, whatever it was. Instead, I let the man hand me off to my wife, who was quick to strip me, put me in bed and place a cool cloth atop my head.

  “What makes you so sick?” Yoni asked as she gently applied a salve on my chest. I didn’t know what it was made of, for she produced it from her luggage (which still remained unpacked thus far.) The smell was soothing and seemed to clear up my nostrils, allowing me to breathe freely.

  “Running this household, it would seem,” I replied, eyes closed.

  “We must make great sacrifices for our people,” Yoni said. “I am proud of you for working yourself to illness. It is rare to see such a quality in a man.”

  I ignored the subtle jab at my gender, knowing that it was merely a cultural difference that led her to
believe in the inferiority of men. With a yawn, I reached up to brush her cheek before falling into a deep, deep sleep.

  “It’s more than a sickness.” Those words, so loud they felt like someone was sitting beside me, echoed in my ears, prompting me to awaken. I sat up and looked around for the culprit. But no one was there, no one but Yoni who was passed out beside me, face down in the pillow. The voice had been a man’s. Familiar, I think. Was it a dream? It must have been.

  “It’s far more than a sickness,” the voice said again. Uncle Arnison? No, that couldn’t be it. He was dead. Dead and gone. Such an idea caused an intense sorrow to wash over me, as if I had just learned about the loss right now. As if I had just discovered his body. Lights flashed from the door leading out into the hallway, prompting me to stand up. I tried to speak, but no words would come. Apparently, Yoni couldn’t hear my attempts to ask if she heard what I did.

  The lights seemed to put a spell over me, prompting me to stagger up to the door and slowly open it. Instead of the hallway, the door led directly to the parlor, where my uncle stood, facing the window. Behind him was a man in military garb. No! Not military clothing, but the same black uniform the Queen’s Men wore.

  “He’s the same as his father and the Crown cannot ignore that,” the Queen’s Man said. “You must let us enlist him.”

  “The man’s barely in the ground and you’re already here to take his son away,” Arnison replied, his voice uncharacteristically hard and cold. I had rarely, if even, seen the man angry. But here he was quaking with a great rage, shaking as if repressing the urge to strike the stranger in our house. “No. It is an illness, nothing more, nothing less. It killed my father and now my brother. I’ll be damned if I let it kill the boy too.”

  “Sir, you do not understand. At higher levels, once a bond with the starmetal has been deepened, your brother was capable of some incredible feats. Feats we didn’t even know possible in the Grid. This isn’t an illness. It’s not a sickness. We don’t know what it is, but only a few bloodlines seem to possess this ability. Please, let us at least take the boy in for testing. See if we can’t find early signs of it in children.”