The otherworldly bug started staggering like a street brawler that just took a powerful box to the ear. And the golem, in his turn, was not thinking about stopping. The flanged mace was flickering constantly, turning the beast’s head into a slop of black chitin and green slime. And a few seconds later, we watched the defeated monster’s body disappear into thin air.
I didn’t read the victory message, because two more of the bugs appeared in the gap in the wall.
I glanced at the fort’s magic supply. There was still half of what we started with. The golem had used a huge amount of mana, but it was worth it and then some! With help like him, our group could probably take down even scarier monsters!
I raise a shivering hand. The lightning is still on cooldown. I’ll have to use a Ram. Let’s see how it works on the ground.
Lilac smoke enshrouds my hand.
— You have attacked Crusher (30)!
— You have dealt 0 damage!
— You have attacked Crusher (30)!
— You have dealt 0 damage!
Alas, no damage got through. The bugs were still on their feet. They gave a slight teeter, but that was it. The stun didn’t work the way I was expecting either. I was only able to immobilize one of them. The second, blocking its broodmate’s body, was still moving.
I impatiently checked the lightning — less than a minute before I could use it again. And Ram — fifteen seconds.
On my command, the golem dashes forward, blocking a powerful pincer blow with his shield. The trolls, their clubs thrown away, reach for the stones. Large rocks fly at the bug. Thankfully, with the wall collapsed, we have plenty of ammunition.
The beetle, clacking its mandibles furiously, got distracted by the trolls, which the golem took immediate advantage of. The flanged mace, shredding its chitin armor, slammed into the monster’s side. The first blow was followed by a second, then a third, and a fourth...
With its dying breath, the monster tried to reach its opponent with its left pincer, but my ice arrow brought the standoff to a close.
Quickly dismissing the victory notification, I directed the golem at our final enemy.
The crusher came to its senses and hit us with a surprise. Releasing a cloud of black fog, it sharply shot upward and flew a crooked path over the dilapidated wall and the golem running its way. It was hard to say whether this maneuver was deliberate or random but, one way another, the beetle was now outside the range of my spells. And worst of all, while Farhas and his soldiers tried to escape the fog, the creature managed to land right on one of the wounded trolls, who was lying unconscious among the stones.
Grabbing its prey with two feet, the crusher again took off into the air and flew toward the swath of downed trees. All I could do was clench my teeth and fists and watch this creature carry one of our warriors away.
The beetle didn’t fly very far. It landed sixty-five feet from the wall and I watched an otherworldly beast acquiring a new body for the first time.
If I didn’t know exactly what was happening, I’d have called it a captivating spectacle. The body of the troll and the crusher simultaneously flickered with a bright blue flame. Then the absorption began, culminating with the otherworldly newcomer acquiring a body from this world. The whole process took one or two minutes at most.
The monster’s level and name remained the same but its torn-out appendages and rumpled wings looked like new.
It was also moving somewhat more lethargically, which I took to mean this newly-minted inhabitant of my world was disoriented by the absorption.
We had to take advantage of that!
I wanted to order the golem to attack the monster, but I was stopped by Gorgie giving a warning growl. I cast a gaze where the harn was pointing and my heart went cold. Over the treeless terrain, quickly clacking their many segmented legs, two level-fifty millipedes were racing our way.
“Ah, some higher creatures have come to pay us a visit after all,” I whispered in a quavering voice.
Chapter 20
COMPARED WITH the armored crusher, “armed” with fearsome pincers, the millipedes frankly looked a bit weak. But their speed and levels spoke for themselves. I’ll never forget watching a similar creature catch up to a herd of steppe elk and tear half of them to bits. And that one was only level thirty-five.
The crusher’s reaction to the newcomers baffled me at first. But then, when I realized what was happening, my mouth spread into a happy smile.
When the giant bug saw the millipedes, it gave a sharp shudder and took a step back. Its shield-shaped shell split apart, liberating the wings.
Well of course! That’s all logical and expected. They aren’t allies anymore! From the moment the crusher obtained a body of our world, it turned into prey to the otherworldly aliens.
Under cover of a cloud of black fog, the beetle tried to escape and very nearly succeeded. But to its great misfortune, its opponent was faster.
The red scolopendras, and that was the name of the new monsters, were already at its side. One of them jumped on the runaway fast as lightning. A second before the crusher got knocked out of the sky and fell into the black fog, I saw a scolopendra sink its flat head into the beetle’s underbelly. The second creature didn’t keep it waiting either and plunged after its comrade.
Mee and I exchanged puzzled gazes and understood one another without a word. We’d just been given a breather!
I turned my gaze to the extremely battered warband. Other than Farhas, there were four warriors still in formation, and it would be a big stretch to say they were in decent condition. Each of their bodies had a few deep wounds and bruises.
Ah, no... Not four. Five! Erg woke up and, snorting furiously, was trying to crawl out from under the stone slab that had him pinned to the ground. Two warriors heard him struggling and ran over to help.
Mee gave a jolt toward the wounded troll, but I stopped him.
“Take this,” I said, extending a couple potions of satiety. “Drink them. And don’t waste mana. We’re going to need it soon.”
The kid nodded and ran down. The harn and I followed.
“What’s happening over there?” Farhas asked when caught up to him.
“The crusher has been reborn,” I answered, continuing to walk quickly toward the gap and adding over my shoulder: “And two level-fifty higher creatures have appeared from the portal and have just attacked the beetle.”
The old man gave a perplexed cough.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to get a couple surprises ready for whoever wins that fight,” I answered, making my way up the pile of stones.
Once outside the walls, I started throwing Blots over the path I figured the monsters would take. Bit by bit, the pile of stones and the internal courtyard after it turned into one huge trap. Exactly what we needed. I wasn’t stingy with the spheres either. Now every little thing could determine the outcome of the battle.
When I’d finished with the blots, I ran over to Farhas who was making use of the break and spearheading the effort to get wounded trolls out from under the rocks.
“Here,” I said as I ran, extending him a handful of Ticks and all the Fury scrolls. “Hand these out to your warriors.”
My back already turned, I heard the elder chuckle in respect. He must have read the descriptions.
After that, he gave a few clipped orders:
“Dago, get the wounded into the tower! Everyone else take as many stones as they can carry up to the overlook platform!”
When all the preparations were complete, I went up and gazed into the distance. Based on the appendages periodically poking out of the black fog, the crusher wasn’t going to give up too easily.
“Great,” I whispered with just my lips and opened the map. “Hold out just a bit longer, big guy.”
I gave the golem an order to return to the fort then checked his mana supply. Almost one percent remaining. Hopefully that would be enough for him to land a few blows.
The bronze giant overcame the pile of stones and stood in the center of the courtyard. Surrounded by Blots on all sides, he’d make a great lure for whichever creature won this battle. And I had almost no doubt that there would be only one winner.
Meanwhile the black fog gradually dispersed and, with it, my hope that the crusher could take down two level-fifty beasts. Although, based on the fact that the first scolopendra to attack was missing a few large chunks of its torso, the beetle was fighting valiantly. If not for its shattered underbelly shell and the slimy innards falling onto the ground through it, I definitely would have bet on it to win even still.
For the most part, the battle was already over. Both parts of the cloven scolopendra were still moving, but that was just death convulsions. They’d be over in a matter of minutes. Its counterpart, which had climbed up onto the crusher’s back and was slowly stumbling and trying to stay on its feet, had begun the absorption process.
I didn’t get bogged down guessing what might happen if we attacked the monster at that moment. First of all, we simply couldn’t get there fast enough. And second, we didn’t know how that might end for us.
Based on the trolls’ stretched out faces, this was making a big impression on them. I just gulped with my dry throat. Just few minutes earlier, they’d watched a member of their tribe die.
Finally, the bright blue flame went out and we saw the reborn monster.
“The spirit has acquired a body,” Farhas commented drily.
“Yep,” I nodded. “And its weak for now.”
“And hungry,” Mee squeaked.
“A good opportunity to attack,” I sighed. “But we’re too far away.”
“Then we should draw its attention,” said Farhas and suddenly he started to roar ferociously: “Prepare for battle, brothers! This beast must die!”
The trolls, shaking their heavy clubs over their heads, responded to their ruler with a single unified roar. I think I also shouted something, as did Mee standing next to me while Gorgie imitated us with a fearsome growl.
That did the trick. The war cry drew the beast’s attention. Its flat head turned in our direction and, a moment later, it was running toward us.
It reached the first blot in a matter of seconds. I was already mentally rubbing my hands together as I imagined the beast getting bogged down in the generous spread of traps. But the scolopendra surprised us...
Just three feet from the traps, it stopped to probe in front of itself with its long whiskers.
“It can sense them!” one of the trolls barked angrily.
“Keep screaming!” Farhas commanded. “We need to distract it from the traps!”
We gave another roar in unison. The beast reacted instantly — it dashed forward. My disappointment was immense when I saw its flexible segmented body smoothly bending itself around the Blots without losing speed and climbing up the pile of stones.
The monster’s nimble movements drew a joint sigh of disappointment.
“Let’s see how you like this!” I spat out angrily and activated lightning.
With a bright flash, electricity shot toward its armor in a jerky line. But nothing happened!
I lost the gift of speech for a moment, watching with wide-open eyes while the scolopendra just kept running our way as if nothing had happened, continuing to gracefully curve around the Blots.
This was the first time that foolproof spell hadn’t worked! I was immediately reminded of something Master Chi said about defense against paralyzing magic.
Farhas gave a roar, tearing me from my stupor:
“Attack the fell beast!”
Large stones rained down on the scolopendra’s head as it ran toward its prey. Or to be more accurate, that was what it looked like at first glance... The nimble creature, seemingly, was anticipating this twist of fate. It coiled up, froze for a moment and sharply turned forward, then back, then right and left... Only one stone hit its armor and it was a glancing blow. And for the record, by some utterly fantastic means, it also managed to dodge a ram, and Farhas’ scourge and the stone spikes.
Something unbelievable was happening before my very eyes. After all, the scolopendra had just been weakened by rebirth. What would have happened if it was well rested?!
I must give the monster its due — this was the first time I’d fought such a high level creature. And for the first time, I truly understood that I could die at any second. That realization knocked the wind out of me. I think this is panic!
A moderately painful kick in the back brought me to my senses.
“Wake up!” Farhas barked at my face. “Activate your warrior!”
With a burnt-out nod, I mechanically gave the command to “Attack.”
The bronze titan, taking shelter behind its shield, burst from place. The creature reacted instantly to the lateral motion. Its long whiskers, vibrating at a very, very fine frequency, were clearly giving it a picture of its opponent. The trolls for the record, hoping the creature was distracted, were still throwing stones. But with its sharp and simultaneously lithe movements, the millipede was able to avoid taking any damage. It looked like some ravenous hypnotic dance.
When the golem got close, the throwing stopped. The warriors were afraid to accidentally hit our best fighter.
Waving the flanged mace, the golem made a long lunge. I was expecting the scolopendra to dash in for a counterattack, then the bronze giant would finally be able to hit our elusive opponent. But yet again, the beast managed to surprise us. It simply closed the gap and went left. And most impressively — it kept the golem between it and the trolls’ line of attack the entire time.
The Bronze Gunnar made attempt after attempt to get near the monster, but nothing was working.
“How much mana does it have left?” Farhas asked grimly.
Looks like the old troll has realized, like me, what the crafty millipede was doing. It was trying to wear its opponent out.
That meant it was somehow able to sense magic supplies and how much they had in them. Add to that extreme agility and speed as well as resistance to paralyzing magic... I was perplexed and perturbed. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen to us when the golem ran out of magic.
“This beast is clearly magical,” Farhas said, intently watching the fight below. “If we can drain its supply, we’ll rob it of its advantage!”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “But you saw that — not a single Tick hit it. It avoided them easily, just like the normal rocks.”
“Ugh!” the old man squeezed out between his teeth. “If we could only hit it properly one time! It’s armor is weak.”
Pointing at the scolopendra’s side, Farhas added:
“Did you see what a deep scratch that rock left? And that was just a glancing blow.”
“I’ll distract it!”
Erg’s voice made us shudder. The giant took a decisive step forward.
“It won’t run away from me like it runs from your warrior,” he continued. “I have many open wounds on my body. It will smell blood and certainly attack. And when it does, I’ll try and activate your spheres and slow it down. That will give you time to finish off the vile beast.”
Getting out ahead of the others’ objections, Erg raised a hand.
“No! I’m going alone! I will die with honor for my tribe!”
I glanced thoughtfully at Erg. He’s right. The beast is hungry and he has lots of wounds on his body. And even though Mee’s magic and my potions had healed many of them already, Erg would surely make a good lure.
“We don’t want you to die, Erg,” I shook my head.
“But...” the big fellow tried to object, but I interrupted him.
“I have one last trump card and you can play it properly.”
Briefly laying out my scheme, I looked at the old man.
“It might work,” he said laconically to the others. “Go start. Your shiny warrior’s supply will run dry soon enough.”
Erg, squeezing his club in his right hand and a handful of
Ticks in his left, hurried down. I followed after him.
As soon as Erg opened the door, a notification appeared before my eyes:
— Attention! Fort Stout’s magic supply is empty!
“The warrior has stopped moving!” I heard the trolls up above screaming.
“Get ready!” Farhas barked.
Erg, bending low, went out in front and roared loudly, challenging the crafty beast to a fight. I meanwhile, trying to keep to the shadows, slipped over to the wall. I waited for the door to set back in place and held it just barely open, leaving a crack two fingers wide. Through it, I had a great view of what was happening from the outside.
The Wastes Page 24