by Aaron Oster
“Holy shit, are you serious?!” Morgan asked. “You have an attribute near a thousand?”
“Yeah,” Sarah said, closing her status and giving him a grin. “My Intelligence is at 982, so just a few more ranks, and I’ll be topping four-digits.”
Morgan’s highest attribute was Agility, and that was far behind Sarah’s. But Morgan figured that it would only be natural that Sarah, as a mage, would do so well there. In a match of straight up brawn, he doubted he could best Katherine, who was a pure super, so when it came to pure MP, it made sense that a pure mage like Sarah would be able to beat him.
Where Sarah was physically weaker and Katherine was mentally weaker, Morgan excelled. While he didn’t have single attributes as high as either of them, he was extremely well-balanced, even if his Agility was a good deal higher than the rest. Which made him wonder how well he’d do in a fight against them.
A thought for another time, he decided, leaning back against the couch and staring up at the ceiling.
The sky was beginning to brighten outside his window, showing the first signs of morning. It was strange that Arnold would be launching his attack during the day rather than by night, but with the blizzard they brought along, the sky would be plenty dark. They were actually going to be leaving before the attack started, to give the attacking force as little time to do damage as possible.
However, none of them knew how long it would take to seal Octagon away. The process could take hours or be the simple work of just a few minutes. It would all depend, according to Sarah, on the state of the enchanting script, something she was sure to be used in the sealing of such a powerful beast.
The two of them only had about an hour left before they had to get dressed and meet up with the rest of their forces, but neither of them felt much like sleeping. So, instead, they remained as they were, cuddled up on the remains of the couch, talking of plans for the future.
44
Morgan looked around at the grim collection of faces. There were nineteen of them in all, split fairly evenly between men and women. The rulers of their respective countries were there as well, standing solemnly at their head as they all moved to stand upon the platform. Morgan himself was standing with his arms spread as two aides strapped the harness to his chest, pulling the straps tight and making sure the lines would hold.
“Though you may be going to your deaths,” Katherine began, “We, the rulers of your nations, commend you for your sacrifice. To those in the North, let it be known that should we survive, your families will be receiving titles of nobility so they can take over the desolate cities and rule for as long as they wish. I know that death is highly likely, but I would encourage you to try your darndest to come back alive!”
The two fighters from the North, one named Nathan and the other Chesterson, both nodded. They had families they were leaving behind, and the knowledge that they would be given positions of such honor and importance solidified their resolve in what they were doing.
“As for me,” Le’vine said, addressing her forces, which accounted for twelve of the nineteen going. “Your families will all be supplied with beast cores to advance them all the way to your current ranks. In addition, they will be well cared for and never need to work a day in their long lives again.”
“Positions of nobility are open in the Central Kingdom as well, as are the highly competitive teaching positions at the academy that will be re-opening when this is all over.”
Then he continued, addressing the room at large
“To foster new alliances and assure that we remain at peace, all will be welcome at my academy tuition-free for the first five years after its reopening. The younger generation must learn to take over, and we will need any and all fighters after the losses we are likely to suffer. I wish you all the best of luck and may the gods be on your side!”
All of the gathered men saluted in the fashion of their Kingdoms at that. The soldiers of the North clapped a fist to their chests, the East all raised a closed fist overhead, and the Central Kingdom fighters placed a knuckle to their foreheads. In their eyes, Morgan could read their resolve. They were all prepared to die for their Kingdoms, to fight for their survival and the prosperity of their family’s futures.
“You’re all set,” one of the aides said, giving the harness one last tug.
Morgan nodded and was about to take off, when Katherine approached him. He could practically feel Sarah’s eyes boring into his back from the platform where she’d been forced to join the others, but chose to ignore her. If Katherine had something to say, then Morgan would let her say it. In all the time he’d known her, she’d been nothing but a friend, supporting him through some pretty dark times in his life and especially through his fight with Sarah.
She placed a warm hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, then pulled him in for a tight embrace.
“Please promise me you’ll come back alive,” she whispered. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if you were to die.”
“You know I can’t promise you that,” Morgan replied, though he did return the hug in kind.
He could feel her trembling lightly, giving away how truly afraid she was about what was to come. As a ruler, she constantly had to put up a strong front, but now, if only just for a moment, she was allowing her true emotions to show, and he wouldn’t begrudge her that.
“I know, but I had to ask, if just for my own peace of mind,” Katherine replied, squeezing him even tighter. “Even though I never really loved them much, my brothers and father were the only blood relatives I had. It didn’t really hurt all that much when they died, but Gwendolyn’s death really hurt me badly. You’re all I have left now, Morgan, and even though I know you don’t feel the same, I have to tell you that I love you more than anyone else in the world. You have to know that, right?”
“I do,” Morgan replied. “And I love you too. Though I never had a family in a traditional sense, I feel like you’re the sister I never had. I know that doesn’t mean much, as your feelings for me are more than that, but I had to tell you all the same. Please be careful out there, and don’t you die either.”
Katherine let out a choked sound, halfway between a laugh and sob.
“Maybe I can learn to live with that in time. But regardless of its form, your love still means the world to me, and for now, it’s enough to simply hear you say that you love me. Please, just tell it to me one more time before you go.”
Morgan could feel his own throat tightening up, knowing that this may very well be the last time he saw her alive. Though she was strong, she’d likely be facing the strongest monsters of this army, which meant she’d likely be confronting Arnold himself. There was no telling how strong he’d become, and there was every chance she wouldn’t make it. So, Morgan obliged and did as she asked.
“I love you, Katherine,” he whispered. “I always will.”
Then, he pulled back, giving her a light kiss on the cheek before preparing himself to take off. Katherine stepped away from the platform, wiping away the moisture in her eyes and trying to regain her composure. Morgan could still feel Sarah glaring holes through his back, but he decided that he didn’t need to explain himself or make excuses.
Katherine was who she was, a beautiful and powerful person who’d sacrificed more for her country than anyone here. And now, she was putting herself on the line once more, facing down terrible odds in the hopes that she could pull out a victory. He wasn’t going to begrudge her goodbyes, nor would he make excuses.
Morgan gave the gathered rulers one last nod, then slowly rose into the air. He felt the strain on his shoulders as he did, but the platform with all the people easily rose along with him. The ropes creaked ominously, and the platform swung and shifted. However, the people standing upon them were powerful, the strongest of the strong and a little thing like unsteady footing wasn’t going to bother them.
Their meeting had taken place on the ground, right before the western-facing wall. It was over one-hundred and
twenty feet tall by now and growing by the minute. It was also well over ten feet thick and widening slowly. The mages and supers were working there, continuing to reinforce the walls in the hopes that they would hold against the oncoming army.
As Morgan rose higher into the sky, soaring above the walls and reaching his maximum height, he could see the forces arrayed against them. To the west, as far as the eye could see, the landscape was dotted with gray and white. If one looked at a glance, they might think it was just snow, however the constant shifting movement gave it away for what it really was: the tide of the oncoming army.
To the east, Morgan could see similar forces, the massive swarm so large that they disappeared into the horizon, hidden by the curvature of the world. Their numbers were staggering, making the gathered forces in City Eleven look like a joke in comparison. The total forces of the alliance numbered at just over nine-hundred and fifty-thousand, and while substantial, the enemy numbered over two million.
Two to one odds might not have seemed so bad from a fortified position, but when one thought about it from a purely numerical standpoint, being outnumbered by over a million troops was a very, very bad thing. Especially so, seeing as how the attackers could constantly be adding to their forces from the very enemy they were attacking.
Before anyone could become too discouraged at the numbers arrayed below, Morgan turned in the air and used Gravity Warp. The air twisted around them, and in under a second, they were heading towards their final destination — the lair of Octagon the Bitter, Pinnacle King of Winter.
***
Arnold stood at the head of his forces, looking up at the now-towering western wall of City Eleven. He had to admit that given such a short time to prepare, the North had done well. From the reports, this wall had been less than half the staggering hundred and fifty feet it was now. However, walls wouldn’t stop the army of the Pinnacle King, no matter how tall or thick.
To either side soared tall mountains, stopping them from completely surrounding the city. On the other side, to the east, lay the other half of his forces, led by none other than Fiona, Octagon’s head of intelligence. If anyone could figure out how to crack these defenses, it was her. But ultimately, even if they had to force their way in, they’d be just fine. The North was barely standing, their forces depleted to a mere hundred thousand or less after the ransacking of City Twelve.
They’d added nearly a quarter of a million fighters, nearly all the remaining citizens and non-fighters of the North to their army. Arnold himself hadn’t realized that quite so many had survived, but he was thrilled, nonetheless. Sure, peasants only made the weakest of their forces, but they would come in handy all the same.
Octagon was committing everything to this attack, throwing the full might of his army, numbering nearly 2.5 million strong, at the last border between him and the rest of the Five Kingdoms. Sure, he could have left them alone and merely used the West and South as staging fronts, but Octagon was the King of Winter, and if the entire North wasn’t under his control, he wouldn’t be able to advance his storms along with them.
Arnold wasn’t entirely sure why that was, but the master had told him not to worry about it and to allow him to do all the thinking. That didn’t bother Arnold one bit. Thinking was for the Master, after all. He was just a tool, something for the Master to use to destroy his enemies. Arnold was going to relish destroying this city and seeing the look on that bitch Katherine’s face before he tore her head from her shoulders.
There would be no rebirth for her, no coming back to join the Pinnacle King’s glorious army. Katherine would die and remain that way, and he would personally make sure of it. His revenge had been a long time in the making, and now, after all this time, it would finally come to fruition. Arnold reached back, drawing the massive sword, glittering as icy blue mist swirled off its surface.
He could feel the wind picking up, laced with the power of the Pinnacle King himself. It would take a lot of concentration to keep an army this large focused, but Octagon had more than enough power to do so. He was the King, and as King, he could not be beaten, even by his own limitations.
Gray clouds blanketed the sky in all directions, heralding a storm stronger than any that had befallen the North thus far. This would be glorious. Arnold took a deep breath, feeling the frigid air entering his nostrils and amping him up for the fight.
All I need to do now is… A light buzzing in the back of his mind caught Arnold’s attention, and a moment later, he heard the voice of his master.
“Annihilate them all!”
That was all Arnold needed to hear. Brandishing his sword overhead, he gave the order with great relish.
“Charge!”
The wind billowed up around him at the command, bringing with it the whirling snow and bitter cold. The last battle for the North had finally begun.
45
“So, that’s it, huh?” Morgan asked, watching the large force of monsters wandering around outside the massive glacier.
He and Sarah were crouched behind a small bank of ice, along with Chesterson of the North, Galig of the Central, and Solveig of the East. They were the chosen leaders of their small group and the ones who’d be giving the orders along with Sarah. Including the two of them, their force had a total of twenty-one fighters, enough to break into four teams of five, each working independently to weaken or drive back the Pinnacle King while they worked to seal him once more.
Morgan would be heading the group at first while Sarah looked over the script to see if anything needed repairing. Then, when she was done, she’d be switching out with him while he went to charge the scripts up once more. They only had three healers, but with Sarah’s ability and Morgan’s self-healing, they should be able to cover their basis, though Morgan had made her promise to keep one heal in reserve for herself just in case.
“Yup,” Sarah replied. “From there, it’s roughly two hours to the center, though if we’re not trying to be sneaky, we could do it in less.”
“We can assume that this Pinnacle King will know we’re here as soon as we step in,” Solveig said. “We’ll have to kill all those monsters to even get inside, so I don’t think we should bother with being sneaky.”
Morgan nodded to the tall, muscular woman in agreement. Though he hadn’t met Solveig in his time in the East, he’d heard good things about her from Le’vine. She was one of their finest and had agreed to come along on this mission. She had a mind for tactics and supposedly had a lust for battle that matched even his own.
“There is a back way in though,” Galig said, removing his spectacles to wipe the fog from their lenses. “Why do we not attempt to enter through there?”
He was a lanky man with dark skin who seemed way too scrawny to be a powerful super. However, according to Herald, he was far more capable than he first appeared. His
strength lay in his ability, which gave him power over ley lines and faults. In other words, he could cause earthquakes. In this case, his job would be to cause as much damage to the glacier as possible once they were inside.
Sarah would be able to feel where they were covered by water, so they didn’t accidentally drown themselves while slowly chipping away at the glacier’s foundations. The hope was that once they sealed the Pinnacle King, they could then destroy the glacier and sink him to the bottom of the North Sea, where he’d hopefully never rise again.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t exit through the back way,” Sarah said. “And seeing as we don’t really know exactly where the throne room is from the outside, we can’t take that chance.”
Galig nodded, seemingly happy with that response.
“What about you, Chesterson?” Morgan asked. “Anything to add?”
The man simply grunted, then shook his head. Unlike the other two, Morgan actually knew him. He loved food, mainly fried chicken, had a love of all things game-related, including dice, cards, and anything else in between, and had a serious stomach problem despite his high rank. He never really said much
either, but in a fight, his ability to make things go boom was pretty handy.
“Very well then,” Morgan replied. “Move back to your squads and prepare to attack.”
The others nodded, moving silently back and leaving Morgan and Sarah staring out at the force of monsters alone.
“Still not too late to back out,” Sarah said.
“Nope,” Morgan replied.
“We’re still going through with it, aren’t we?”
“Yup.”
“I really hope we don’t regret this,” she said with a sigh, then moved back to take command of her small squad.
Morgan would be fighting alone, coordinating with the other four, and moving to where he was needed. At least, until they were face to face with the Pinnacle King. Morgan honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone into a fight without knowing that he could win with might alone. Yet here he was, preparing to dive headfirst into a glacier containing a monster he couldn’t kill.
With him, he was bringing twenty of the strongest people alive, all between rank 45 and 52. The amount of power their small group represented would likely be enough to topple an entire Kingdom, yet they were all going to face a single beast, and a lot, if not all of them, were going to die. All in the hopes that the beast could be – not killed – but locked away.
The thought of all that could go wrong froze him in indecision for a few long moments, but soon enough, Morgan calmed down and turned back to face his forces. Despite the freezing near two-hundred below temperatures, they all stood strong, straight-backed, without so much as a twitch to give away their discomfort. Morgan was feeling the chill, the cold fighting to shut him down from within.
His armor helped, as did his Constitution, but he knew that they wouldn’t make it long out here if they didn’t get moving. So, finally, he decided to give the order, one that would send many to their deaths. He wasn’t really one for grandiose speeches, so his charge order was a lot less inspiring. Still, it got the message across quite well.