“Now, we’re talking.” Induca raised her hands. Fire elementals seemed to erupt in the skies above the fortress. Wreathed in blue flames, they dove toward the oncoming armies.
“I guess it’s time we started working.” Anna pulled out her massive sword.
Deia released the first Mana firestorm, creating another as she watched Anna out of the side of her eye.
Anna flicked her blade; the holes in it made the whole blade hum. Anna turned and spun. People cleared out a path for her as their movements disturbed the wind around her. She moved, seeming to float through the air as she spun, jumped, and leaped. Her sword rang out a sad and calming tune with her movements. The air seemed to glide, almost calming in nature as Deia’s ears popped from the different air pressure.
Anna’s body started to become outlined in the white eddies of wind. Her figure blurred with the speed of their movements as she seemed to become part of the air.
Deia’s second Mana firestorm rushed forth, carving through the oncoming formations and eating up any free Mana it could find. It ran through the breaches, tearing the walls apart as it went, melting the metals and rocks, before hurling them out as missiles.
Deia, now with an idea, paused, gathering Mana as the flames for hundreds of meters around flickered toward Deia.
Anna’s song turned from calm into a raging tempest. Building upward, it sent shivers down the enemies’ spines while the Dwarves and Stone Raiders’ allies roared, new strength filling them.
Anna’s movements quickened. Her blade rang out powerful and true as she rose from the ground; air from across Verlun was pulled toward her. She danced upward and into the air. The air became white with its rapid movements, obscuring Anna as her song rang out.
The wind took shape around Anna, creating what looked like a torso, then legs and arms, and a head. A twenty-foot creature of barely contained air blades covered Anna, her sword’s song becoming silent. The sounds of battle slowly returned as air flooded the area.
Anna’s creation stood in the sky, surveying the battle below, like a disapproving god looking over its subjects. It turned in the air. A sword identical to Anna’s formed in its hands as it struck out at the attackers.
A white blade of wind raced through the sky.
Deia had only ever seen Anna using her invisible blades of wind.
The strike hit. A line a hundred meters across appeared among the attacking army. Where it hit, a three-meter-deep gouge was left in the ground. Barriers that had already been weakened were torn apart, leaving those who they protected out in the open.
Mages started to use their spells on the massive sky guardian, trying to rip the wind that powered it away from the creature or simply annihilate the magical construct with their own magical force.
Anna started to dance with her blade. Her sky guardian moved as easily as she did in her own form—dodging attacks, deflecting them with her sword made of wind, and returning the attacks.
Slashes formed in the ground, crisscrossing the enemy formations.
Induca created her own Mana firestorms to protect Anna, taking away the attacks to fuel themselves and open up barriers for Anna’s Air blades.
Deia closed her eyes, focusing on the spells she was building. In her mind’s eye, she saw all of the fortress. She started to weave her spell, red glowing around her and her eyes glowing with power. She smiled to herself as she finished the spell formation within her mind, changing the input formation from her to her armor.
After Dave had talked about how he was creating his enchantments and conjurations, then powering them through his soul gems instead of through himself, Deia had tested it out.
Wisps of almost invisible flame flew from Deia toward the breaches. Some slammed into barriers, creating small explosions, but a few made it to the walls around the breaches and buried themselves into the metal and stone of the broken walls.
The metal and stone were superheated within seconds under the power of her highly concentrated fire spell. They exploded in a spectacular fashion, creating grenades out of the debris. Deia guided the spell as those within the breaches were showered with superheated debris.
Barriers took on solid colors under constant attack from the explosions. Those who weren’t covered by a barrier or protection strong enough to withstand the exploding rocks and metal were shredded.
Deia would have only been able to hold the spell up for ten minutes or so. With the power coming from the soul gem instead of from her own personal Mana reserves, she wasn’tat any risk of going through Mana exhaustion. She could take her time in directing the spell where she wanted her superheated flames to go, using it like an automatic magical grenade launcher.
The ground opened up as Malsour rose out of the ground on his metal disk. “Well, looks like a few things changed while I was away.” Malsour looked up at Anna and the exploding breaches.
It was chaos with the Warclans and allies joined in battle, with Loughbreck’s army still pushing forward.
There wasn’t enough room within the fortress’s walls for them to all make it inside.
Broken bodies and people screaming in pain lay across the battlefield as magic continued to wage battles. The Stone Raiders’ Mana barrier and the attacking army’s mobile barriers were alight nearly constantly with impacts of various kinds.
“Stone Raiders! Prepare to move!” Josh said. The defenders were taking on more and more casualties and had little to no room to move backward.
Dwarven artillery sailed overhead, slamming into barriers or throwing dirt into the air, leaving large craters behind. They broke through the occasional barrier, tearing into the ranks of the attackers, leaving broken bodies and bloody reminders.
“You ready?” Deia looked to the rest of the party. Anna was still in the sky, but her sky guardian had lost quite a bit of power. Although Anna was a master with her two-handed sword, her guardian was simply too large to avoid all of the attacks being sent at her.
“You know it,” Lox said, a grin visible through his helmet.
Steve took a few practice swings with his axe as Gurren twirled his sword. Malsour cracked his fingers as Induca rose into the air a few inches. A red aura appeared around her as her eyes glowed red, looking similar to Deia. Suzy twirled her staff before she slammed it into the ground.
Allies and fellow Stone Raiders started to move away from Party Zero as they focused on the enemy in front of them, their auras leaking out.
Chapter 23: When an Unstoppable Army Meets An Impossible Guild
What the hell is wrong with these people? Loughbreck looked at the massive sky guardian that stood above the Stone Raiders’ Guild Hall, dispensing blows imbued with the power of the wind, tearing through people and ground alike.
He had two hundred and ten thousand people left. All of the soul gems had been dispensed to the different barrier groups. His mages were all chugging Mana potions and he’d had to bring in his reserve mages as well.
Had to use a damn grand working to open up the walls and they just burned through them with that damned firestorm.
He winced as the breaches exploded again, showering a passing barrier with shrapnel.
“Lord Esamael is demanding a report,” one of the lieutenants said.
“Send him the feed from our scouts,” Loughbreck growled. While all of the scouts and observers who had been sent before had been killed off, the army’s own scouts were providing eyes within the Stone Raider’s Verlun location with various long-range spells and scopes, as well as controlling beasts and looking through their eyes.
He had been assured that the Stone Raiders were just a minor bump in their way to Haugr. Now, Loughbreck was thinking that maybe going straight to Haugr and attacking the walls might have been a smarter idea.
“The Warclans are making a path!” a lieutenant said. As the battle had gone on, they’d discovered it was better to tell Loughbreck any developments instead of keeping it in. It had taken Loughbreck killing two aides before they listened.
Hewatched as the Warclans moved to the side as people rushed through their lines. The Warclans’ Dwarves moved with an almost mechanical movement.
Groups burst from the Warclans’ ranks like damn Dragons racing through the sky.
Loughbreck’s jaw worked as the Stone Raiders finally took the field.
Others jumped over the Warclans, showing their Agility and Strength as they got inside the barriers.
“Buff our forces; all buffs, now!” Loughbreck yelled, not taking his eyes from the scout’s feeds. His people were putting up a fight here and there, but it wasn’t even close to what they’d been doing with the Dwarves. The Stone Raiders were like a force of nature. They waded through the barriers, taking down the groups inside, throwing themselves into battle. They worked in parties of ten or less.
They coordinated with one another, even if they were tens of meters apart. Anytime they got bogged down, they were supported by aerial bombing, their guild members, or the ranged fighters to their rear.
His eyes fell on a man made of steel; his axe cut through any who dared to get in his path. Two Dwarves to either side of him fought with shields and swords. Behind them, four mages glowed with their power.
Loughbreck saw their eyes, shuddering as the male mage that seemed as if the abyss was clinging to him waved his hand. Shadows lurched from his hands and stabbed through openings in helmets or through any other opening they could find. They dropped as he waved his hand in the other direction; metal spheres flew out to meet magical spells, tearing them apart. Souls and free magical energy flowed in toward the party as they moved forward, neither fast nor slow, as if they were on a simple walk.
Loughbreck saw as the buffs spread like a web, outward from the breaches and toward the frontline soldiers.
They put up more of a fight, actually hurting some of the Stone Raiders. The Raiders seemed to constrict; the parties moved together to support one another. Their pace slowed as they took their opponents more seriously.
The Warclans raised their shields, changing out their lines and wounded being funneled to the rear. The new front rank moved forward, their shields up and ready. As they stepped forward, the Mana barrier seemed to grow with them.
Swords and the spikes on the end of their shields stabbed out, killing or maiming Esamael’s soldiers who faced them.
The Dwarven artillery was now up and ready, ringing the wall around the Stone Raiders’ Guild Hall and within the small square between buildings. They bellowed, their rounds blossoming over the remaining barriers.
Overhead, the aerial Demons and Beast Kin released more of their Mana bombs. They were now rotating flights and moving in groups of no more than twenty, all separated out so they weren’t as easy to take out with a large area of effect spell.
Their spearheads and Mana bombs rained down, adding to the growing pressure on Loughbreck’s soldiers.
We’ve lost our momentum. If this keeps up, then they will push us outside the walls and we won’t be able to make it in again.
“Ready another grand working,” Loughbreck said through clenched teeth.
“Which one?” the new mage commander asked. It seemed she learned from her predecessor’s mistakes of questioning his commander’s every other order.
“Use the shades,” Loughbreck said.
The air seemed to chill with his words.
“Yes, sir.” The mage commander turned to one of her people and sent them to get the grand working.
Loughbreck listened to reports, trying as best as he could to get people into place to stop the Stone Raiders and their allies’ advance.
The Stone Raiders had pushed out another fifty meters by the time the grand working activated.
Doorways snapped into being between the Stone Raiders and their allies. For a second, nothing happened, and then creatures—horribly disfigured creations made of shadows—their incorporeal bodies raced toward those who opposed Loughbreck’s army.
They passed through the barrier, meeting the Warclans’ shields as they hastily dropped into a shield wall. The shades attacked them from the front and glided over their shields to attack them from above. Their screams made people drop to the ground in pain. They flowed over the shields and into the supporting fighters. The shades passed through anyone without a Mana shield or a strong enough will, each of them taking a part of their Willpower and draining their soul.
Those who had been passed through dropped to the ground in pain as weaker shades descended on them, causing them so much pain that their bodies gave up.
Those the shades couldn’t pass through, they attacked with their screams and limbs, forming claws and tails out of their shadowy forms.
Holy blades and weapons made them cry out in anger, as they flocked toward those who used gear or spells with a Light Affinity, seeing them as the biggest threats.
The Stone Raiders grouped together, letting more of the buffed soldiers through their ranks as they fought not only those to their front, but the shades that attacked their rearguard.
The Stone Raiders stopped trying to hold back their strength. They activated their most powerful spells, racial traits, and augmenting abilities. Buffs flew as parties drained potions and readied themselves.
“Stone Raiders, to death and back!” a voice cried out of the mass.
The seer stone’s view changed, looking to a man who was covered in a black miasma, twin daggers in his hand as he danced through the oncoming fighters. Souls were ripped out of those who were hit by the blades. Each hit the man landed killed a soldier or opened them up for an attack that would.
He moved in a blur, his eyes making Loughbreck flare his nostrils in disgust.
He is no man anymore, but a devil in Human form.
“Stone Raiders, to death and back!” The rest of the guild took up the call and surged outward. Auras burst forth and Loughbreck’s eyes went wide.
He had thought that they were showing their full strength when they charged out of the Warclan’s formation. Now, smaller parties grouped together; the rest spread out, whirlwinds of disaster. It was as if they didn’t care for their lives, for the levels and gear they would lose.
“They’re insane.” A lieutenant said what Loughbreck was thinking.
Never have I heard of Players willing to lose their levels and gear in order to make a point.
It terrified Loughbreck. He still felt that he could win; this last-ditch effort by the Stone Raiders showed that he had the upper hand.
He was scared for what would come when they respawned. They had close ties to the mage’s guild. It wasn’t hard to think that they would just use a teleport pad there and then cross over the bay and into Gudalo.
They might be weaker, but they could come back again and again, every time knowing more, finding weaknesses.
Esamael underestimated them. He underestimated their resolve. He didn’t think that Players could act like POEs defending their land, except these ones won’t stay dead if we kill them all.
A chill ran down Loughbreck. The very air seemed to become still, as if not wanting to anger something or someone.
The scout who was controlling the beast looking down upon the guild hall must have had the same thought as Loughbreck. The seer stone’s vision changed to show the teleport pad.
A man stood there; a hood covered his features and metal flew around him in different orbits. On his hips, he wore twin rods that glowed with the light of soul gems. He looked up, as if staring into the very soul of Loughbreck and the scout. There were no discernible features under the hood, just two glowing gray eyes. They did not look pleased.
“Well, time we sorted this mess out.” The voice carried on the wind, sending shivers down Loughbreck’s spine. Not with the anger, or the sadness in the voice, but the cold and calculated int
erest in it.
***
Dave rushed past the notifications, getting to the summary at the bottom.
Quest Completed: Master of Space and Time Level 13
You have completed the Level 13 quest for this class.
You have exceeded known knowledge. Come up with new possible theory (1/1)
Rewards: Unlock Level 14 Quest
+15 to Willpower
+15 to Intelligence
+15 to Endurance
+15 to Agility
1,300,000 (+7,700,000 accrued)
Quest: Master of Space and Time Level 14
You have exceeded known knowledge. Come up with new possible theory (1/2)
Rewards: Unlock Level 15 quest
Increase to stats
Class: Master of Space and Time
You have shown a dedication to unraveling the secrets of space and time, their effect on each other and on reality.
Status:
Level 13
Effects:
Greater understanding of Space and Time.
+195 to Willpower
+195 to Intelligence
+195 to Endurance
+195 to Agility
Quest Completed: Master of Gravitational Anomalies Level 9
You have completed the Level 9 quest for this class.
You have exceeded known knowledge. Come up with new possible theory (1/1)
Rewards: Unlock Level 10 Quest
+10 to all stats
900,000 (+3,600,000 accrued)
Quest: Master of Gravitational Anomalies Level 10
Come up with new possible theory (1/2)
Rewards: Unlock Level 11 quest
Increase to stats
Class: Master of Gravitational Anomalies
What some have viewed as abnormalities and anomalies, you have seen a problem looking for an answer. You seek to right the laws surrounding gravity and understand its powerful secrets.
Stone Raiders' Return (Emerilia Book 6) Page 26