Sandozium: This dry grain compound is rough, coarse and gets everywhere, infecting target golem, dealing damage to armor. When target golem occupies the same square as other golems, the Sandozium spreads to those golems regardless of their allegiance. This compound wears off when all armor has been consumed.
These were some expert applications of compounds that I had never thought to utilize before. But…they also weren’t in Nigel’s handwriting either. The young man had a terrible time with cursive, yet the printing here was exquisite. And he had recently been in the company of Malphius…a man who was easy to prod for information by asking a single question. A clever move, Nigel. Get a copy of the man’s notes and then pass them off as your own. One might call this plagiarism, but in the academic world we simply called it “research.” Hard to fault him there.
“Psst, he’s coming your way!” Sigmund warned, prompting me to exit the Grid. Indeed, Count Ivan Kure was coming my way. He was a tall fellow, well over six feet, with shaggy white hair, despite the fact that he didn’t look a day over forty. He wore a fabulous red overcoat, lined with gold, but underneath I could see he wore peasant rags. In a pinch, the coat could be hidden, and he’d look like a simple traveler.
“Greetings, Richard!” the Count said, spreading his arms open wide, then bowing to me. A count bowing to a gentleman? A sign of humility or supplication. I wondered which one it was.
“Count Ivan,” I said, returning the bow. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance finally. I have been eagerly anticipating our fight.”
“As have I, as have I,” he said, grinning widely. He stayed about ten feet away from me while talking, his guards standing at his side. I didn’t inch forward, in case it would make him nervous. “I must admit that having a secure county is what I always dreamed of, but those dreams didn’t include the boredom that comes afterwards,” he continued. “So it’s nice to see someone interested in a little sport. All these other nobles are too stingy to lose some mana or some Fire Spice to a battle. Too worried about counting pennies instead of having a good time.”
The man’s spirits were high. He seemed eager, far more eager than I, to engage in this robust battle. As far as I could tell, this was truly going to be a bit of sport for the both of us. Well, at least for him. The battle was still a matter of my estate’s survival on my end.
Chapter 30
“The stakes are high,” Sigmund whispered in my ear as the battlefield filled my vision. “But you must not become compromised by what is at risk. A good commander shuts out the consequences of defeat and the allure of victory, and only focuses on the battle at hand. Right now, there is no estate. There is no Blake family. There is just this battle.”
I focused on those words, on that advice, trying my best to shut everything else out. Sigmund was right. I couldn’t afford to let my fears and emotions overtake me. With a deep breath, I surveyed what was to come.
Round Begins!
Wave 1/5
Enemies Remaining: 25
Total Enemies: ????
I took a deep breath and waited for the enemy to make their way through the entrance. Five waves? How was I going to survive for five whole waves? And if this man wanted sport, he probably wouldn’t surrender, if not for any other reason than to enjoy the show. Then again…I’d be getting five whole waves of mana crystals! That was one way to look at it.
The first group was familiar. Five Stone Golems, moving a little faster than usual. They were the exploratory committee to check how the maze functioned. As they hustled along, they ran straight into the Slugtine trap. I held my breath as they all stumbled for a moment, the blue ooze spreading up their legs. In an instant, all five were stuck. They struggled to move, but simply could not get out of the thick snail extract. This gave my three trebuchets the time to fire straight onto the golems, crushing them to smithereens.
“Time! Time out!” the Count shouted.
“The Judge recognizes a call for a time out,” the Judge boomed. I found myself forced out of the Grid instantly, the transfer so fast it made me dizzy for a moment. “What is your problem?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. Such an attempt failed, for it was plain to hear the hostility in the Judge’s voice. No doubt he just wanted the fight to go on without any kind of challenges.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, knowing full well the Slugtine traps were the issue.
“Those traps aren’t legal,” the Count said. “They don’t exist in the Grid. I’m License Level 3 and I don’t see them anywhere.”
Here it was. The moment of truth. I gazed up at the shadowy Judge who merely looked down at us both with contempt. He glanced at the battlefield for a moment and then back at us, then back at the field. “Please allow a five minute recess for examination of the trap in question,” he said. There came four cracks of black lightning from the sky. The count and I both looked at each other, then climbed up one of the stands to see what the cause of such a ruckus was.
Four shadowy figures, three men and a woman, were surrounding the first Slugtine trap, examining it. One stuck her hand right in without any mind to the danger it possessed. The other was analyzing it with some kind of wand.
“I don’t mean to be a fusspot,” the Count said. “But it’s clear that those traps are unique. I don’t think they’re legal. Of course, I’m not going to demand forfeiture. Just remove them and we can get on with it. I didn’t come all this way to win a fight with a technicality in the first two minutes.”
“I’ll delete them as soon as they are ruled illegal,” I said sharply. My voice was a little shaky for standing up to the Count, for he was a count of course—an extremely high ranking and powerful member of the nobility. But on the battlefield, we were on the same level. “Otherwise, they stay.”
“Of course, of course,” Ivan said. He stood at attention and placed his hands behind his back. “But I’ll bet you my finest horse they’ll be ruled illegal.”
“I don’t see any reason to lose twice,” I replied.
“Hah, too risky for your taste? Too bad. I love a good wager,” Ivan said. “My wife says a little too much. Or she would have if I hadn’t lost her in a card game.” He burst out into raucous laughter at that joke. I snickered a little too. Out of everyone I had met in the nobility so far, Ivan seemed to be the most kind. Which was funny, since he was a Count. I’d assume the higher up in the nobility, the more pompous of an ass you’d be.
We both returned to watch the Queen’s Men at work. They measured the trap, studied it, poked and prodded until they were satisfied. They vanished in an instant, leaving the Judge to face us once more. “The materials used are wholly terrestrial,” he said. “The trap is handmade, but there are no current regulations against custom designed traps. Ingenuity in warfare is encouraged. It is a poor man who only uses the tools he has been handed to win a fight. This recess is over. Resume the battle in 1 minute.”
“Is it still too late to get that horse?” I asked.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Ivan replied, ignoring my joke. “Never in my years would I have thought to build a custom trap. My hat is off to you, Richard. Now, let’s see how the game goes!”
I returned to the battlefield and watched as the fight picked right back up. A Siege Golem escorted by ten Karrack Golems popped out next. The Siege Golem did not, however, sit down and begin to charge up. Instead, it began barreling forward at full speed, the Karracks forming a defensive wedge around it.
“Not bad…” I whispered, eyeing my chemical list. Should I fire something now? Or wait?
The Siege Golem marched up to the Slugtine trap, raised one of its long fists and struck hard into the ground. A health bar appeared over the trap, rapidly going down as the golem smashed away at it. The first trap was well outside of the range of the Karrack Towers, serving as a stop to allow the trebuchets to hit targets early. Yet, the debris flung onto the back of the Siege Golem did little damage to him, barely denting his armor. A smal
l yellow bar appeared over the Siege Golem, indicating that it had quite a bit of armor. This armor caused the ballista shots to bounce right off as well.
I had the armor-disrupting Alchemical Barrage. Should I use it now? There were nine golems left after these were cleared out. Would more Siege Golems appear? No. If it were a feint, he wouldn’t have sent a ten Karrack escort. This was the real deal, maybe sent out to break those traps to bits.
I activated the Alchemical Barrage ability, selecting Sandozium, thankful for Nigel’s notes. A large jar crashed down from the heavens, causing a great mist of reddish sand to spray over the Siege Golem. The yellow bar immediately began to drop rapidly, burning away in a matter of seconds.
One more slam brought my trap down to two measly hit points left. I gritted my teeth as all three payloads landed atop the Siege Golem. The beast’s armor now depleted, it didn’t stand a chance against the full force of miniature siege engines constructed to break down walls. The Siege Golem groaned as it fell over, unable to stand the damage any longer.
My trap was safe. For now. I’d have to buy a Wrench Golem later to patch it up, but at least it was still standing. The Karracks began moving backwards to wait at the gate, but they were taking damage over time for they were still in range of the ballistae and the trebuchets.
“Well this is embarrassing. Normally I can get past the first section…” the Count murmured. There was a hint of admiration in his voice, tinted with excitement. It looks like I was proving a challenge after all.
“You can’t stick us all, I bet,” he said after a moment of thought. The remaining six golems appeared, all Stone Golems. It looked like he went for a light first invasion. They mounted a charge straight into the Slugtine trap and sure enough, they all got stuck. However, upon closer inspection, I realized that the enemy was still moving. The Slugtine extract wasn’t concentrated enough to stop all of the enemy forces, but their movement was slowed down to a crawl.
One trebuchet made a solid hit, decimating a few of the Karracks, while the other golems were able to break free. However, they got within range of my own Karrack Towers and were quickly melted down. They didn’t even make it to the Phlogiston Cannon yet.
Wave 1 Complete! I took a deep breath at those words. That was one down, four to go.
Chapter 31
“Where are the sandwiches, man? The sandwiches! I don’t want any of these wretched hor’derves!” the Count shouted in a jovial tone. He paid no mind to the wave countdown and seemed more interested in taking a lunch order than focusing on the fight ahead. Was this a sign of his confidence in the next confrontation? Or was he just inattentive?
There was a cruel contrast here. I was focused on analyzing the man’s every move and motive, meanwhile he was trying to take a sandwich order from a servant who seemed to struggle speaking our language. “No, no sandwiches! Don’t you have those in Ethenium?” the Count tried to explain as I scoured the map for opportunities.
My crystals were limited, for Lily had not returned yet. But I could at the very least afford one Wrench Golem to fix up my tar trap. It had bravely survived the attack from the Siege Golem, but I was unsure if my repair ability would actually fix the thing. After all, it was a custom trap. Would the rules for trap fixing apply to it? Oh wait! Would my Wrench Golem be able to target the Slugtine trap either?
It was too late to rescind my previous purchase, for I had already clicked the ready button. The game began.
Wave 2/5
Enemies Remaining: 5
Total Enemies: ????
Only five enemies? That didn’t bode well. They were either heavy hitters or more of an exploration of my maze. After all, he hadn’t gotten past the first trap.
As the battle began, the Wrench Golem did nothing. Despite the fact that it was standing right near the Slugtine Trap, it did not recognize the structure as an official building type and therefore felt no compulsion to fix it. I tried to select the trap itself, but the Grid did not comply either. As far as the system was concerned, these traps were nothing more than a piece of landscape.
An ear-splitting shriek heralded the arrival of my foes. They were golems in the shape of large condors, complete with spread out wings that flapped vigorously, giving them flight.
“An advanced little unit of mine, haha,” the Count chuckled. “Let’s see your traps slow them down!”
I quickly tapped the golem to read its description.
Vulture Golem: Agile golems that ignore ground-based traps and enemy units. When passing over remains of a destroyed golem, their health increases significantly. Attacks the Mana Sphere only.
These birdbeasts quickly began flying their way to the first trap, shrieking and screaming. They moved fast enough to easily avoid the large chunks of debris heading their way. Their health bars all became boosted once they passed the Slugtine trap which had been a graveyard for the previous swarm.
My ballista had trouble tracking them, hitting every other shot, taking a decent chunk of health out, but there was a problem. The vultures could ignore the barricades, flying straight towards the Mana Sphere, avoiding the Karrack Towers.
I should have purchased a Karrack Golem or two to order around, but alas I had figured my maze to be impenetrable. Just as my Slugtine trap had caught my foe off guard, so these wretched flyers were a total surprise. I could do nothing but watch as they sailed straight to my Mana Sphere.
Was this it? Was this the end? No, it couldn’t be. I still had compounds, right? But as I fumbled to find something to activate, I could not help but watch as all five of the lightly damaged golems flew straight up to my Sphere and began pecking at it. Two things happened at once. First, the Mana Sphere health bar appeared. 1,000 points dropped down to 900 within the blink of an eye. The second instance was that all ballistae fired at the now stationary birds at once, making mincemeat of them almost as quickly.
I let out a deep sigh of relief as the Mana Sphere turned from bright red back to shimmering white-blue. These birds weren’t all powerful; they just dodged quickly while flying. Stopping at the Mana Sphere left them wide open.
“Made you sweat, didn’t I?” Ivan said, slapping me on the back as the break timer appeared. “You should pop out and listen to the crowd, they’re loving this! I’ll give you a clear warning though, my next wave is what I consider my primary force. So get ready to give them a show, Richard!”
I had already guessed that wave three would be his actual force. I still wasn’t sure how invasions worked for the invader, but it seemed that they could organize their units how they like in between rounds. There were more flyers inbound, that was for certain. It would probably be a mix of flyers and ground units. The first unit would be a Siege Golem, no doubt, to destroy the Slugtine traps. Maybe two Siege Golems, one after another…
I had to prepare quickly for the next wave. Flyers would avoid the center of the map because that’s where my Karrack Towers rested. They’d have to go to either one side or the other, where there were nothing but barricades placed, to form the walls of my maze. A slight modification could ensure these birds would have a hell of a time getting past me now.
I deleted two barricades forming the walls on both sides (since they were undamaged, this was allowed!), then placed two Karrack Towers in their stead. Now every spot of the map had Karrack coverage. Any flying golem would be cooked like a Solstice goose regardless of which path it took.
But to be sure, to be really really sure, I spent the majority of my remaining mana crystals, 50 total, on two mobile Karrack Golems, placing them right by the Mana Sphere as guards. They would shoot incoming birds as well as any other remaining enemy force.
As the timer ticked down, I made one more change. Utilizing my knowledge of how many units could occupy a square as last time, I moved my two Shield Golems to block off the pathway to the first Slugtine trap, knowing that the Siege Golems would be forced to stop and fight, backing up the entire battle.
I took a
sharp breath and readied up, ignoring the steady stream of banter coming from Ivan. The man might be friendly and approachable, but he never seemed to shut up. Hopefully he wouldn’t have much to say after this wave was over.
Chapter 32
I tried to stay calm at the sight of the wave size this round. 50 Enemies Remaining hovered in front of me as the third wave began. It was good I hadn’t eaten any of those sandwiches the Count was raving about, because they would certainly be returned to sender. Fifty enemies would overwhelm me, I just knew it. And there was no doubt about his plan. He would send all of them out at once. It would be the only way to bypass those Slugtine traps.
“Now it’s getting interesting!” Ivan shouted as the first and final group appeared from this wave. Three Siege Golems came stomping forward, taking no time to power up, and a stream of Stone Golems followed after. I counted at least 20 regular golems.
Once the land units were clear, the rest of the swarm flew out at full speed. The ballistae were so busy targeting the mass of land units, they had no ability to even aim towards the air. 27 Vulture Golems came spilling out, dividing into two groups, attempting to bypass the Karrack Towers by splitting their forces up.
But what my opponent did not know was that my Karracks could hit two targets at the same time. I watched as the fast units flew forward, rushing towards the first set of towers on each side. I held my breath as the towers began firing beams of energy at each target. Eight dead within seconds! The beams did not have accuracy issues, for they were high-powered bursts of energy that moved as quickly as light did. With perfect precision, they cut through swarm, killing half of the Vulture Golems.
Yet half was not enough, for the remaining 12 made a beeline straight towards the Mana Sphere. Thankfully, my Karrack soldiers were ready to fire. Aiming intelligently for the strongest targets first, they cut down two more before the swarm reached my Mana Sphere. The sphere turned bright red as it took damage. 200 more points down the drain. Yet, just as before, my ballistae ceased worrying about other targets and began shooting down the swarm threatening the Sphere. It seemed that all towers prioritized those who were attacking their main source of power.
Gentleman's Wars: The Rules of Engagement: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series (The Great Game Book 1) Page 18