The Mountain Valley War
Page 64
Officers:
4/4
War in the Streets!
Olaf was amazed they had done that much damage. They had managed to take out 31 soldiers. Olaf barely had time to take that in when there was another larger and louder explosion from somewhere near the back of the Anvilton army.
Siege Status
Barracks:
N/A
Soldiers:
153/200
Elite Soldiers:
20/20
Officers:
2/4
War in the Streets!
Olaf couldn’t believe it. Whoever that mad bomber was, he or she just took out 2 officers and another 16 soldiers. If they were able to do that, Olaf wondered how much damage they might have been able to do if he had been able to give them more resources than what they asked for. Could they have taken out all the officers?
Olaf almost stopped as it sunk in, two officers were gone. Olaf hadn’t given much thought to the idea he might need to fight four officers at once. And if they had been forced to fight four officers, could they have survived it? They barely made it through two officers in the last phase, four would have been a death sentence. The yell of the charged rang out ahead of Olaf, the battle had begun only for Olaf’s vision to be blocked.
Quest Alert: Welcome to the Rebellion 4 (Recommended Level 10-12) – Completed!
The rebellion in Anvilton is ready to strike its final blow. They have gathered all the resources they can and are ready. They will strike when the time is right. Will you help them when the time comes?
Reward: +50,000-Experience, See New Anvilton Government if Victorious for Additional Rewards
It was a bad moment for a quest completion to pop up, Olaf couldn’t complain about the experience or potential other rewards, but the timing was awful. A quick look down the line after he dismissed the message showed several other players had also been halted by the message, a couple appeared to have been trampled because of it.
Olaf righted himself and rejoined the charge, arriving as the two opposing armies clashed, the sounds of shields slamming into each other echoed down the street loudly followed by the clanging of weapons and cries of pain.
Anvilton had fielded units from the earlier phases but as a more complete unit that also now included spellcasters. One spellcaster, in particular, cast a spell sending rock shards into the front line, cutting down Hammerton and Anvilton soldiers alike until a perfectly placed arrow took him out with a headshot.
Hammerton proved themselves stronger as their front line pushed the Anvilton line back, one inch at a time. When one of Hammerton’s Heavy Guards fell, one from the row behind filled in immediately. Healers would try to help the soldier if they could, but more often than not, they climbed over the body and kept pressing forward.
Archers from both sides fired on the mass of bodies in the center, dealing damage to large swathes of players and soldiers, weakening but mostly failing to kill. It was a small relief that these Archers couldn’t do the kind of damage that actual Longbowman would do on a medieval battlefield or they would have been wiped out long ago. Even player Archers did more damage, although their attacks were usually more focused.
“Major incoming,” someone shouted.
Olaf looked toward the back of the Anvilton army and saw a Dwarf wearing a long white robe that dragged behind her like the train of a wedding dress. “Spellcasters, healers be ready for area of effect attacks!” Olaf shouted. They had never faced a Major before, Olaf expected this would be a much more difficult fight. Olaf’s warning didn’t come fast enough. The ground under his feet started shaking, getting progressively stronger until a spike of rock shot from the ground and tore through his foot and up into his knee, finally stabbing out the back of his leg, debuffing him with a ‘Crippled’ on his leg in addition to dealing -1,371-HP damage. Olaf swung his maul, easily breaking the rock and freeing himself from the ground, it did a little more damage to himself in the process but at least he was free. A look around showed plenty of others who couldn’t break themselves free after being pinned similarly. Again, Olaf was struck by the distinct lack of respect for life from the Anvilton forces. There were so many dead on both sides after just that one attack.
“Ranged damage dealers, start firing on that lady, any miners, start breaking the survivors free. Healers, do what you can,” Olaf barked out orders as he dragged his crippled leg toward the Major. Even though Olaf was a miner, he had a ‘Silencing Shot’ skill that would be very useful against the spellcasting Major.
Olaf saw the start of a spell and fired. Interrupting the spell and adding a ‘Silenced’ debuff to the Mage.
Single Hand-Cannon II
Level: 13
Experience: 81.41%
Current Damage Modifiers
Damage: +126.00
Critical Strike Chance: +12.60%
Subskill: Silencing Shot
Skill Effect: Silence target for 10-seconds Cooldown: 15-seconds
Skill Stamina Cost: 226
Subskill: Knee Cap
Reduce Enemy Movement and Attack Speed: 50% Target Receives Increased Damage: +11.3% Duration: 15 Seconds Bleed Effect: 2 Damage per Second Cooldown: 1-minute
Skill Stamina Cost: 264
It was annoying that the skill continued to get more expensive without increasing the duration of the silence, but he didn’t have room to complain. The effect was the most important part of the skill.
The Mage retaliated with a bolt of magic from the top of his staff that lifted Olaf into the air and knocked him onto his back, leaving his health low. It was lucky that the damage it dealt was minimal. Olaf climbed back to his feet and fired again, this time aiming for the shoulder of the arm that held the staff and triggering his ‘Knee Cap’ subskill. Thankfully, the subskill didn’t require him to actually shoot the knee for the effect to work.
Olaf took another energy bolt from the staff, knocking him back to the ground and reducing his HP even further.
“I need a tank up here now,” Olaf shouted, once he was back on his feet. It took too long to climb back to his feet with one of his legs still ‘Crippled’.
“Sorry I’m late,” said Rock, charging toward the Mage, bolts of white energy impacting the Major and drawing aggro. Rock was a Paladin tank that Olaf had gotten to know during the month. He was probably the best tank left that Olaf could have asked for, it helped that he was also Icyhot’s primary tank. “Alright, you run away bride. Let’s see if we can’t at least get you to a church for your funeral.”
The Dwarven Mage glowed red.
“I think you took it a step too far . . . again,” said Dawn, an Elvish woman that was one of Rock’s best friends and another of Icyhot’s group. She was a Druid, as evident by her transforming into a bear and using a skill to pin the Mage, knocking her to the ground and stunning her for a few seconds. At least, it should have stunned her, that red glow seemed to have made her immune. A pillar of rock shot from the ground knocking Dawn away easily.
“Ha, and you call yourself a bear,” teased Kimmie, another of Icyhot’s usual group. She was a Beast Mistress. “Okay boys, show that silly Druid how a real bear does it,” she ordered, two bears charged past her, tackling the Major again.
“Hold her down,” Icyhot shouted.
Olaf looked to see Icyhot was powering up a very large ball of fire.
“If you kill my bears, I’ll kill you,” Kimmie warned.
“Yeah, yeah, just be ready to tell them to run,” Icyhot said.
The Mage once again knocked the bears pinning her off, one after the other. When she climbed to her feet, she once again began to cast another spell.
Olaf wasn’t going to let that happen and fired another ‘Silencing Shot’, interrupting her again only to be knocked to
the ground again by that damned staff.
“I got you, Major,” said Duncan, another of Icyhot’s normal party. Duncan was an old soldier and the member of Icyhot’s normal group that he had interacted with the least. Only because the Dwarf had been working with Heath most of their time in the province.
Olaf was more than a little happy to see the stone that still impaled part of his leg pushed clear then stitched up by the Combat Medic. Duncan added a bandage when he was done, which started a healing over time effect and then moved on quickly.
Now that he was mobile again, Olaf started moving, circling the Major and firing with every opening he saw, firing his ‘Silencing Shot’ every chance he could and trying to cripple the arm holding the staff the rest of the time. Once a few other adventurers had joined him they were able to keep the Mage silenced or interrupted for the duration of the fight.
Olaf stayed aware of his surroundings as they fought the Major, it was necessary. At the same time, he kept an eye on the status of the siege. He needed to know if Hammerton was getting overrun and needed reinforcements.
Eventually, the Mage died, and Olaf was able to breathe a short-lived sigh of relief.
Siege Status
Barracks:
N/A
Soldiers:
2/200
Elite Soldiers:
20/20
Officers:
1/4
War in Streets!
Olaf was only slightly worried that one officer remained along with the twenty elite soldiers. The majority of the Anvilton army was defeated. Looking at the Hammerton forces, they might have been down by half. It should be more than enough to finish whatever Anvilton sent next. Olaf’s only real fear was the last officer. The Mage they just killed was a Major. Would this last officer be the same? Or worse, would this be a Colonel?
“Reform ranks,” Colonel Grandmite ordered loudly. It looked like at some point she had joined in the fighting, she had a tower shield in one hand and a sword in the other, both were bloodstained.
A wash of heat passed over the battlefield right as the last two Anvilton soldiers reflected dead.
Siege Status
Barracks:
N/A
Soldiers:
0/200
Elite Soldiers:
20/20
Officers:
1/4
Attack of the Demons!
“That’s not good,” Olaf said, staring at the siege status. “What the hell does it mean, ‘Attack of the Demons’?”
“By the God Ivaldi, what has that mad Dwarf done?” Colonel Grandmite asked, showing emotion . . . fear for the first time. She stared across the battlefield and saw the Dwarves that were marching toward the Hammerton army. Appearing far too confident given the army before them. The fact that all 21 Shale Dwarves marching toward them now had wings, glowing red eyes, and their mouths were filled with sharpened teeth, might have had something to do with it. That one of them was listed as
“Focus down the elites first,” Olaf shouted loudly for the players to hear. “Rock, be prepared to tank the Colonel. We cannot let him run amuck.” Olaf looked back at the approaching Demons. There were four groups of five. Each group had an
“No, I will handle the Colonel,” said Colonel Grandmite.
Olaf was a little relieved by that statement. Colonel Grandmite was level 20, so technically, she should only be slightly weaker. “Alright, we’ll focus on the weaker Demons,” Olaf said.
“Be quick and be merciless, they will not show you less,” Colonel Grandmite warned, then added, “If they try to fly, aim for the wings.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Olaf said.
“For Hammerton!” Colonel Grandmite bellowed, charging to meet the oncoming Demons, her entire army charging in behind her.
Olaf was tempted to join the charge, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t approve of the decision to charge, not when the Demons were using player tactics. A look around showed about 20-players hadn’t joined the charge, apparently, they agreed with him.
“What’s the plan?” Icyhot asked. He was the first to reach Olaf, but the others were also moving toward him.
“I don’t like the player tactics the Demons are using,” Olaf said. “If they want to play our game, then let’s show them how it’s really supposed to be done.” Olaf looked at who was available to work with before nodding to himself. “Okay, here’s the plan . . .”
With instructions in place, Olaf and his group moved to the left side of the street, the place where the most Hammerton soldiers had been killed.
“Okay, tanks, go!” Olaf ordered. He had six heavily armored players in his group, all capable of tanking. Thankfully, one of them said early on that he preferred damage dealing which made it easier.
With the order given, the five tanks charged or rushed in, each of them picking up one of the Demons. Just as planned, they tried to separate the Demons. The Heavy Guard and Soldier moved easily, the Priest and Mage didn’t move, and the Archer actually ran away. It would suffice. The most important part of the plan was if they followed aggro rules. They had contingencies if they didn’t, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
“Damage dealers, destroy the Priest!” Olaf ordered, joining the charge with the other players. The Hammerton forces that survived didn’t listen to Olaf’s orders, but at least they were attacking.
Olaf hit first with a ‘Silencing Shot’, an act that was copied by multiple players. “Take turns with the interrupts,” Olaf warned. Thankfully the Priest didn’t have any kind of area of effect abilities but his use of ‘Unholy Smite’ did significant damage to the tank.
“More damage,” Icyhot called out, letting another fireball fly.
Olaf moved into melee range and started swinging his maul, hitting the Priest at least once before reloading. He could do more damage at this point if he used his maul exclusively, the only problem was the lack of subskills and the loss of ‘Silencing Shot’. There were others with spell interrupts, but Olaf wasn’t willing to risk it.
“Mage next,” Icyhot called out as soon as the Priest dropped.
With the Priest eliminated, the other members of the Demon party were easy to handle. Olaf’s other concern was the other three Demon Priests. If the groups weren’t self-contained, there was a chance they would come to help. They didn’t.
When the last Demon in the group attacked died, there was an unholy screech that had Olaf covering his ears, an act mimicked by those around him. It didn’t last long, but when it did, the remaining Demons flapped their wings as one. They lifted into the air, their sharp claws grabbing anyone close enough and carrying them upwards.
Olaf tried shooting for the wings as did the remaining Archers, but it didn’t do any good. When the now flying Demons reached the ceiling, they let go. Thirteen Hammerton soldiers and two players died from the fall. The Demons circled for a minute longer, their health bars refilling. Once their health was fully recovered, they split into three groups and dived down again, tackling anyone stupid enough to stay under them. Five more died from that.
“Okay, we’ve got the pattern,” Olaf shouted over the sound of battle. “Let’s get them!”
The casualties were high in this phase of the fight. After a group of Demons died, they would fly up again and drop players and soldiers alike to their deaths. That didn’t count those who died just fighting them. Without a tank for each, they were walking death machines, scything through players and soldiers alike.
When the last dropped, the Demon Colonel made that screeching
sound again. He didn’t fly up, but he did seem to have grown bigger since the start of the fight. He stood almost twice Colonel Grandmite’s height. Speaking of the Colonel, she wasn’t looking good.
“Healers, get the Colonel topped up. Tanks, start building aggro just in case we can’t get the Colonel healed. Damage dealers, go nuts but be wary of transitions,” Olaf warned, gulping down an SP potion while he had a moment. “And for God’s sake, spread out!”
Olaf joined the melee fighters in hammering at the Demon Colonel. He had put his hand-cannon away for the time being. The extra damage from using the maul two-handed was the priority. And as a bonus, the Demon Colonel was now large enough for the remaining melee fighters to all fit around him . . . well, mostly fit, the few extra soldiers took turns sliding in and out of the melee range to hit the monster. The Hammerton soldiers were a little late to the party but every bit of damage they could deal was helpful.
“Ten-percent incoming,” Icyhot yelled loudly in warning.
Olaf knew there was no guarantee anything would happen at 10% but milestones like that seemed to matter. This time, 10% came and went without anything extra happening.
After losing 12% of his health, the Demon Colonel screamed again, this time it caused a ‘Stun’ effect. Its wings snapped open suddenly, then the Demon Colonel spun knocking everyone away then shot into the air. It immediately crashed back down smashing a few players and soldiers. It shot into the air again and repeated the process two more times, killing even more. After the third crash attack, the stun effect faded, and the attack resumed.
Olaf was confused by the timing of the special attack. It was odd, out of the norm, special attacks usually work on a damage percentage basis, or it had so far. “Someone, start a timer!” Olaf yelled. He didn’t know if anyone heard him. They were more interested in dealing damage to the Demon. Then he did it again at 23%. A look at the game clock said almost 2-minutes had passed since the last time it had done this.