by A F Kay
Ruwen loaned Bliz Sift’s Fighter insignia, and Bliz assembled his Crazor like Ruwen’s. Bliz couldn’t power the insignia as much as Ruwen, but it still worked better than Glow. The two of them generated far stronger beams from their Crazors and melted the terium alloy bars of the portcullis in seconds. The heat they generated was so intense that the enhanced steel gate behind the portcullis also melted.
With thirteen minutes left, they had cut through eighty percent of the portcullis. It was taking longer than Ruwen wanted, but they would finish before the counter reached zero.
Metallic clicks echoed in the Shed as the gate locks released, and a heartbeat later the severely damaged enhanced steel gate slid into the wall, leaving just the portcullis.
Last Breath triggered as the disappearing gate revealed two hundred enemies with weapons drawn.
Chapter 80
Before Ruwen could enlarge his Void Band, the enemy attacked, and over a hundred crossbow bolts raced toward them. Ten feet from the portcullis they struck an invisible barrier created by the twenty Mages in the breach group.
“Finish quickly,” Ruwen told the Workers. “Bliz, keep me updated.”
Ruwen had captured over six hundred attacks with his giant Void Band shield as the breach team had raced toward the gate. Glancing at his Inventory, he noted the slot where the objects started, stuck his left hand between the bars, and opened his Void Band a foot. Without looking to see what the positions contained, he channeled ten Energy into blocks of ten slots, waited a second, and did the next ten.
Moving the Void Band back and forth, Ruwen showered the enemy with their own crossbow bolts, arrows, and elemental spells. The breach team’s Mages were in a deeper layer of his party structure so he couldn’t see their Mana reserves. He loved his Warlord capabilities, but the Emissary Specialization would have given him the ability to see and speak with anyone in his entire chain. Eventually, with his essence recipes, he would have it all, but today he needed to work with what he had.
The enemy had retreated from Ruwen’s barrage, but at his current pace, he’d exhaust his Inventory in another twenty seconds.
“Cycling,” one of the Mages said.
Ruwen winced. It meant the Mages were low on Mana and would alternate between powering the shields and drinking Mana potions. Three crossbow bolts reached the Shed. One bounced off a warrior with a metal clang, another struck Willow’s support tree, and the last struck a Healer who collapsed.
Thistle stepped up next to Ruwen. “Make room, Overlord. I need to find a weak mind.”
The front of the Shed stretched thirty feet, and there were already ten people against the bars. Ruwen and Bliz moved over enough for the small woman to join them. Thistle studied Ruwen intently for a second, and then turned toward the enemy.
Ruwen felt pressure on his Core as Thistle weaved her essence.
“Ninety percent,” Bliz said. “Thirty more seconds.”
Ruwen used Chat to notify his Commanders. Full advance in ten.
The army would start their attack in ten seconds and should arrive shortly after they’d breached the gates.
The pressure against Ruwen’s Core from Thistle’s casting became uncomfortable, but he couldn’t see anything happening. He wondered which of the twelve essences were currently pouring out of the woman.
“They’ve breached the walls,” Thistle whispered.
Ruwen looked down at the woman, worried the pressure of the battle had made her crazy. A voice shouted from inside the city, repeating Thistle’s words exactly. “They’ve breached the walls.”
Many of the attacking enemy turned and looked around.
“Everyone to the west wall,” Thistle whispered.
“Everyone to the west wall,” a distant voice shouted.
An enemy Fighter, currently attacking the breach team, screamed and threw himself to the side. “He’s here!” the Fighter shouted and then shot a crossbow bolt into the head of the Fighter next to him.
“The Overlord is in the city,” Thistle whispered.
The Fighter that had attacked his own, tried to shoot another companion, but two other Fighters tackled him.
“The Overlord is in the city,” the same distant voice screamed.
More of the attacking Fighters turned on each other. The Mages behind the confused Fighters tried to intervene, but only succeeded in drawing the attacks on themselves.
Thistle slumped, and Ruwen caught her with his right arm. His Inventory finally emptied of all the previous enemy attacks, so he closed his Void Band, and pulled his arm back through the bars.
Thistle regained her balance and smiled.
“What did you do?” Ruwen asked.
“The lower their Intelligence, the greater the chance they’ll see an Overlord wherever they look. It will only last a few minutes, though. The area is too large.”
Ruwen almost asked Thistle about her essences, and how she constructed her spells, so excited was he to discover this mass hallucination magic. But now wasn’t the time, and he wore the wrong armor. Someday, the Scarecrow would ask.
“We’re through,” Bliz said.
“Make room,” Ruwen said, and all the Workers moved to the sides.
Two Mages stuck their fists into the ground. When they pulled them out, they were encased in rock. They stepped up to the damaged portcullis and smashed it with their rock fists. On the fifth punch the bars moved, and three strikes later, it fell forward.
They’d breached the gate with eleven minutes left on the temple counter.
The gate and portcullis were located at the outer wall, and a twenty-foot tunnel was all that stood between them and the city. Ruwen stepped forward, but the ceiling and walls began to collapse, as the enemy Stone Mages worked to keep them out.
Ruwen channeled Energy into Dash and sprinted forward, his own Stone Mages keeping a path open. The army would arrive shortly, and they needed to have a place to go.
As Ruwen exited the tunnel, eight Fighters with spears tried to skewer him. He moved between their attacks, his focus on the Mages trying to collapse the tunnel. Confused shouts from the battlements meant Thistle’s mind magic still affected some Fighters. Now that Ruwen had actually entered the city, it would increase the confusion, as everyone could see him.
“The west wall is breached,” Ruwen screamed, Hey You making his accent perfect. “Everyone to the west wall!”
A sphere of rock encased Ruwen, as the enemy Stone Mages worked to stop him. He powered his Crazor by adding thirty Energy to the Worker insignia and vaporized the front half of the rock trap.
Jumping out, Ruwen focused the Crazor on an enemy for the first time. The closest Naktos Mage, fifteen feet away, looked surprised that Ruwen had escaped. He aimed the Crazor at the Mage’s neck and the surprised look disappeared, along with the rest of the Mage’s head, as the methane gas sacs exploded.
Memories from Ruwen’s Ascension Day surfaced, and the first Fireball he’d ever cast. It had caused an explosion like this on a Naktos Mage’s assistant in the park near the library. It had horrified Ruwen back then, but now he knew better. This was war, and they were trying to destroy the temple and permanently kill over half a million people. He marveled at the effectiveness of his Crazor, and hoped it was enough to stop them.
With Gold Fortified reflexes, Ruwen flicked his Crazor at the remaining Mages, the explosions occurring so rapidly they sounded like one long echo.
Tunnel secured, Bliz said in Chat. We are inbound. Shed dismissed. Moving to secure gate’s battlements.
Good luck, Bliz, Ruwen responded as he killed the nearest six Fighters.
Bliz would take the breach team and try to secure the battlements over the gate to make it safer for the approaching army. Where Ruwen intended to go, no one could help.
Ruwen swept the Crazor across a row of approaching Fighters, and thirty died at once. The remaining Fighters near the gate fled, and Ruwen ran toward the lake. Whiskers had kept an eye on it, and nothing had come in or out
for half an hour.
Arrows and bolts hit Ruwen as he ran, but he didn’t bother returning fire. Hundreds of stuns and roots struck him, but between his high Resistances and the Bracer of Freedom, none did more than make him stumble.
The lake came into view just a hundred feet away. Seeing the area with no temple made his stomach twist. How could this have happened?
A powerful blow from behind triggered the one hundred fifty-point shield on Ruwen’s cloak, throwing him forward. He rolled, his Gold Fortified body and seventy-two levels of Tumbling giving him the skills to regain his feet gracefully, even in scale armor.
Ruwen turned to find three more missiles approaching. He dodged them and looked for his attackers. Three hundred feet away, ten people fired Hardened Instability Rods at him. All of them had the dual Dark Portals except the one in front, who only had one arm. Valora had found him.
Even with so much distance separating them, Ruwen had to concentrate to dodge the rods as the dual Dark Portals gave the missiles immense velocity. Valora fired rods as well, but with just a single Dark Portal, hers were the easiest to dodge.
The ten attackers strode toward Ruwen, firing dozens and dozens of super sped up rods. There were so many, it became impossible to dodge, and he triggered the Shield of the Faithful on his Overseer’s Tunic of Faith.
Ruwen’s Health dropped by one hundred as the tunic extracted its price, and a tower shield of blood appeared in front of him. The Hardened Instability Rods struck the shield, but didn’t penetrate, bouncing off or deflecting to the sides. Each strike damaged the shield by ten, which meant it wouldn’t last long.
The Crazor might have reached the attackers, but at this distance it would take over a second to ignite the methane sacs. He didn’t want to fight Valora and the other tunnel diggers. His goal was to save the temple, and battling here only slowed him down.
Ruwen took large strides backward, protecting himself with the tower shield. Hoping to distract them, he launched Valora’s arm at the group.
The arm struck Valora in the chest, and Ruwen smiled at the excellent shot. “I’m truly sorry about the arm,” Ruwen shouted.
Valora threw the arm to the ground and the barrage of missiles stopped. Ruwen kept moving.
“Return my Dark Portal,” Valora shouted.
“I can’t do that, but I’ll leave your sculpture here. It’s beautiful, truly.”
Valora screamed in rage and pain. She raised her good arm and pointed at Ruwen. “Destroy it and I’ll let you go.”
Ruwen almost stopped in shock, but forced himself to continue. He only had twenty feet left.
“Why would you want to do that?” Ruwen asked.
Valora screamed again, and Ruwen wondered if the Stone Carver was all there mentally. “Destroy it!”
Ruwen had gotten the quest Armed and Dangerous requiring him to return the sculpture Clouds Embracing the Sun. He could leave it here right now and complete the quest, but it seemed Valora would destroy it. The thought of something so beautiful being demolished made Ruwen’s chest tighten. He didn’t want her to do that. Or at least wanted to know why.
But Ruwen didn’t have the time to find out now. He’d have to look for Valora after this was all over.
Ruwen stopped at the edge of the lake and dismissed the shield. “Valora, I’m sorry again. I’ll return your sculpture when we meet again.”
Valora screamed in rage.
Ruwen turned and dived into the water. He had seven minutes to save the temple.
Chapter 81
Ruwen used his Void Band to accelerate down the shaft, and the sand filled water chilled his skin. Fresh Air kept the liquid away, but Lir had said it was salt water, which confirmed this shaft and the tunnel it connected to, reached the sea. His right pinky warmed as his Revolving Ring of Elemental Immunity cycled through fire for fifteen seconds.
Survey and Stone Echo displayed the surrounding area, and as he sped downward, he angled toward the shaft wall and trailed a hand down it, confirming what his display showed.
The smooth walls looked like an artist, not a miner, had tunneled them. Understanding exploded in Ruwen’s mind, and his stomach clenched at his stupidity. He’d had the clues to their rapid tunneling the entire time.
From Valora’s memories, Ruwen had known Naktos had chosen at least one artist to tunnel. Worker Elder Yana had explained that tunneling speed was slowed because getting rid of the dirt and stone took time, even with Void Bands. They’d based all their assumptions on that.
The contents of Valora’s Dark Portal made Ruwen feel the worst. The Stone Carver’s Inventory contained many high count stone stacks. He should have recognized the significance of those numbers, especially after his own Stone Mages’ blocks, used to fortify the city wall, had each required their own slot. Even before that, when escaping the collapsed tunnel connected to the ether cavern, he’d experienced how similar rocks needed to be before they’d stack, after his Void Band had quickly reached its maximum capacity.
Naktos had used artists to make tunnels because they had the control to create near identical cubes. And if all those stone cubes stacked in Inventory, you didn’t need to move them somewhere else. The cleverness of it shook Ruwen.
The water pressure disappeared, and Ruwen’s Revolving Ring of Elemental Immunity grew cold, as it cycled into water for fifteen seconds.
Ruwen’s map showed ten people entering the water above. Valora would not leave him alone. It also meant retreating to the surface wouldn’t be easy.
Lir, can you give me any details on what’s attacking you, Ruwen asked, and then immediately clarified. A summary of the most significant items.
The attackers show an advanced knowledge of temple design. Oscillating essence waves are disrupting my shielding, which reinforces point one. I am sixty-two percent certain the Spirit powering the attacks originated in the Infernal Realm.
The Plague Siren Ruwen had killed in the Spirit Realm had come from the Infernal Realm and so had the young woman, Echo, he’d saved during his Step trial. The Plague Siren had been a favorite of the Demon God Lalquinrial, and the Plague Siren had worn the Scarecrow Aspect as proof. An Aspect which, unfortunately, now existed inside Ruwen.
Rami had said Lalquinrial distanced himself from this planet and the gods here. Why would he be involved? The Plague Siren’s journal, with all the intelligence on other Infernal Realm Clans, hinted that conflict was common there. It might be an Infernal Clan and not Lalquinrial at all.
Ruwen had traveled twenty-three hundred feet, when the temple’s tip finally displayed on his map, five hundred feet below. As he continued down, more of the temple came into focus, and six red dots, likely those responsible for attacking the temple, also appeared. The pressure this deep made movement difficult, even for his Gold Fortified body, and fighting seemed out of the question.
Ruwen had expected a bunch of Haffa’s followers attacking the temple, but it appeared these six creatures were alone.
With only five minutes remaining, Ruwen couldn’t afford a long fight. He had no way to move the temple, which meant his only option involved stopping those six attackers. But he really didn’t have five minutes, because Valora and the other nine Dark Portal users were only a minute behind him.
Once again, things seemed hopeless. If those six below him were Cultivators, they were likely high Gem level. To fight them, he’d absolutely need to use his Spirit, which risked throwing the entire world into conflict. Even if he had time, going to the surface to get Phoenix or some other Cultivator to help was impossible because there were ten enemies above him.
To be honest, Ruwen wasn’t even sure using his Spirt would be enough against six advanced Cultivators. He’d used that option as a security blanket, telling himself if all else failed he’d risk revealing his ability to Harvest.
For the first time, Ruwen realized even his Harvesting wasn’t enough, and he would fail. A failure that would kill seven hundred thousand people, including Hamma, forever. Even the Ov
erlord struggled to contain the panic that Ruwen felt.
Ruwen couldn’t fight the six attackers and couldn’t retreat for help, which left moving the temple as the only option. If you could call the impossible an option. Despair pressed in from all sides.
Ruwen’s pinky warmed again as his fire immunity activated. Not much use in a shaft of water thousands of feet deep. Maybe he should fight Valora and her companions so he could get help from the Cultivators. If he got his Crazor close enough to the methane sacs, even underwater, maybe they’d explode. If nothing else, the Crazor would boil the nearby liquid doing a little steam damage. But he didn’t have the time to—
The word steam had sent an icicle through Ruwen’s brain. What connection had his Cleverness attribute noticed? He thought of all the recent times steam had come up, and three instances immediately surfaced.
The giant squid Tickles had protected its lake, and the realm-transferring flowers, in the Spirit Realm. When fighting the squid, Tickles had countered Ruwen’s Magma Lance spell with a column of water, and the explosion of steam had covered half the valley.
The second time had also been in the Spirt Realm. Ruwen had been learning essence forms when training underwater in Fractal’s lake. Rami had wanted to know which form Ruwen would try first: the healing, fire, or ice form. He had chosen ice because using fire underwater created steam, and his alchemy labs had given him a respect for the damage steam caused.
Ruwen had used that alchemy experience in his fight with Phoenix by creating a block of ice in front of the Cultivator’s fire attack. The resulting explosion of steam had thrown Phoenix a hundred feet into the air and slammed him against the Spirit ward that covered the arena.
The pressure on Ruwen’s body disappeared as his immunity ring cycled through water. He winced in pain as what felt like his brain freezing solid. But he had an idea. The smallest sliver of hope. Maybe there was a way to move the temple.