Ghost-like spears appeared from the ground, finishing off the wounded of the Blood Demon Masters and those who were close to dying.
The three remaining Masters dodged the ghost spear attacks, while also watching Special Team One, giving the Masters no time to counterattack.
Tian tried to fire on another Master but her gun jammed. Niemm’s target threw up a barrier; his hasty shot missed while Lucinda’s new explosion destroyed their barrier and Storbon launched his spear into their chest.
They were tossed back as one Master used a talisman, that both pushed others back and increased their speed dramatically as they fled.
The other two also used their different escape items, running from the battlefield.
Deni rushed over to Yao Meng’s side. Blood covered the ground and a tombstone appeared above it.
***
Roska and her team all knew their roles as they had gone over their plan of attack as they were preparing the ambush. Gong Jin, Tully, and Davos would distract the demon. Yang Zan and Roska would provide support: Yang Zan with healing, buffs, and ranged attacks while Roska disrupted magical attacks. Simms and Xi were floaters and would switch with the tanks if they needed to. Otherwise, they would harass from the sides and do as much damage as possible.
Han Wu and Imani were long range, using Han Wu’s modified M32 which had two sockets, not the original one and he had worked on the rounds himself. He’d combined his knowledge of formations and explosives creating rounds that could shoo further and do two to three times the amount of damag as a regular M32. With him supressing an area and Imani’s sniping with her new Expert bow.
They had to completely trust that Special Team One would protect their backs as they fought the demon. If they allowed their attention to wander, then it could very well be a lethal mistake.
The demon had been knocked back by the attacks and it let out a wail.
Gong Jin let out a yell of his own as he executed a sword attack. His body glowed with power as Roska used a spell scroll, buffing her party’s Strength and Agility.
Yang Zan and Imani were firing arrows at the demon, trying to find an area not covered in the armor of the dead used to create this abomination.
Said abomination’s head opened as it fired out a Mana Blast. Its attack hit the ground behind Gong Jin. The buff from the spell scroll had increased his speed and threw off the demon’s aim as it couldn’t move its head as fast as Gong Jin could run.
Gong Jin circled back and sliced through the demons leg, making it bow outward as it twisted. Imani’s bow glowed purple as the power from the bow leached into the arrow as it was released. It crackled through the air and struck the demon’s shoulder, piercing through the armor there and then detonating, taking a chunk of flesh with it.
Davos used his shield to deflect the demon’s fist. His feet left behind two lines in the ground as he was pushed back; his face paled as a red curse appeared around him.
Yang Zan sent heals to help Davos recover as Tully, who Davos had been covering for, stabbed up through the demon’s leg, the same that Gong Jin had attacked, weakening it further.
She pulled out her spear and sliced at the leg again, jumping back as the demons second fist came at her.
“Grenade!” Han Wu barked as he clicked his grenade launcher back together. He peppered the demon with explosive shots. The demon was forced back but it didn’t have any greatly visible damage. The last two grenades of the magazine Han Wu cast Piercing Shot on.
They exploded deep inside the demon. The shrapnel tore into the demon’s legs, forcing it to drop forward onto it’s knees, using its arms to support itself.
Poison, applied generously to all of Team Two’s weapons, appeared on the bodies of the demon; purple snakes twisted and writhed in the demon’s shoulder, causing its bloody skin to turn black as the corruption advanced.
Tully ran forward, but misplaced her feet and fell forward.
The demon lashed out with a fist, hitting her. She only just got her spear in the way; she cried out as her arm was broken by the impact.
Davos and Gong Jin attacked, but their attacks hit armor as the demon made to smack Tully again. A green shield snapped around her as a green glow covered Roska’s hands; she had just been able to cast Attribute Shield as Tully was tossed to the side instead of being smashed into paste.
Tully hit a wall along the side of the street. Dust sprinkled down on her as Yang Zan fired ranged healing spells in her direction with one hand and fired his repeater with the other. Xi and Simms fired into the demon’s exposed back, making it arch in pain from the impacts.
Imani was moving through the rubble at the edge of the street. She pulled back on her bow and released her arrow, striking the demon with another purple arrow and taking a chunk out of its arm, making it bow further forward.
Gong Jin charged in, his body glowing with power and his eyes wild. The Mana in the area was stirred up as he seemed to grow in height, his power focused on his sword.
The demon’s chest opened like a grotesque flower. The faces inside screamed out as Mana gathered into a Mana Blast.
A spell formation appeared around the demon as the built-up Mana was dismissed. Roska bit her lips, drawing blood that was in contrast to her pale face. Gong Jin, who had just experienced near death, unflinchingly landed his attack from underneath the bowed demon. Mana focused on his blade, doubling its size as he cut into the demon and sliced into those screaming faces. He pushed off with his feet, using the last of his strength as he rolled onto the ground, three meters away from the demon and up into a kneeling position. His armor moved with every breath; he seemed to become smaller, the power around him dissipating.
Simms, Xi, and Yang Zan fired into the opening on it’s stomach left by Gong Jin. Their poisoned attacks made the demon’s skin turn purple.
The demon was affected by several poisons, slowing its reactions. As it tried to regain its feet, its body opened again and fired out Mana blasts. The poison continued to attack it internally, decreasing the power it could draw on and further slowing its reaction time, allowing Roska and Yang Zan to dodge the huge Mana blasts and sending Simms spinning through the air instead of taking a direct hit.
Davos attacked again, trying to draw its attention as he left a bloody line and retreated.
Han Wu fired another grenade clip at the demon as it started to raise its body from the ground.
Tully let out a yell, holding her side. Her spear glowed with a ghostly light as she slammed it into the ground. White and black twisting clouds in mirror images of her own spear shot out of the ground, driving into the demon’s body, striking armor and flesh. Nearly forty spears hit the demon, with twenty of them actually landing on flesh over armor.
The demon shook with the impact of so many spears.
The spears disappeared as the demon crashed to the ground. A tombstone appeared above its head.
Roska drank a Mana recovery potion and looked over to Special Team One that had been fighting the Masters moving with the demon.
Her stomach dropped as she pulled the potion bottle from her lips. Deni was tending to Yao Meng, a spear right through his leg as he was keening on the ground.
He let out a shrill noise as Deni tore it out of his leg.
“Don’t worry nothing big, was giving you ice damage anyway, doesn’t that feel warmer?” Deni asked as she worked on the pissed off Yao Meng.
Special Team One, who had just finished their fights, looked over as Roska saw them.
Niemm pulled out his communication device, talking into it.
There was a pause as he listened to the other side.
“Understood, Command. Special Team One Alpha out.”
Niemm pulled out his map and showed Roska. “Looks like there is a group of Masters attacking a demon here, but it is buried in a large group of the Blood Demon troops. Can’t call down spells or mortars for fear of hitting friendlies, so we’re going to be their support,” Niemm said, his professional veneer pus
hing away the loss.
Roska checked the location on her own map. “Okay, do we want to come from the east or from the north? The east has more buildings for cover, but we could charge them if we come from the north.”
“Our people are engaging from the western flank. I’d like to come in from the north and then loop around to the west to add to their line. If we’re east and they’re west, good chance that we miss and hit one another,” Niemm said.
“All right.” Roska nodded, checking the map once again and putting it away.
“Everyone, check your gear. We move out in five! Listen in while you’re changing your gear.” Niemm started to brief them through his sound transmission device as they checked their ammunition and their supplies.
Chapter: Difference in Power
Since the beginning, Fred had created tree avatars within Vuzgal, giving them eyes and ears into the Blood Demon lines.
Now, these trees came alive. Their branches and their roots attacked the Blood Demon army. Some that had bombs hidden within them detonated when there were big groups of Blood Demon troops around them.
The Blood Demon army was starting to attack and set fire to every tree that they saw.
Racquel, Reaper, Elizabeth, William, Dromm, and Fred stepped into the skies, their target one of the seven titans.
Old Xern dove into the ground, creating traps underneath and attacking soldiers and Elites by himself. With his ability to run away, he could decimate a group and disappear in seconds, or appear underneath a Mana barrier formation, destroy it and leave the group defenseless.
“Looks like there is something going wrong with our target,” William said in his deep voice, unmoved by the sights of violence around him as barriers were struck on either side. The wall was coming alive, with ranged weapons being deployed against the charging army. The demons and titans fired Mana blasts occasionally as more spells and spell scrolls were exchanged between the two sides.
Buildings were torn apart. People were no less than ants or as powerful as gods as the divide between soldier, Elite, and Master became clear and apparent to all.
Fred frowned, looking at the titan moving toward the wall but also firing Mana blasts at the ground.
“It appears that it is trying to kill the Masters that were sent to protect it,” Racquel said.
“Disgusting abomination,” Elizabeth said.
The others didn’t say anything but they all agreed.
“They don’t care for the people around them, willing to kill their allies to win the battle,” Fred said with tired disappointment
They were all demi-humans, they were closer to nature and the Ten Realms, making them feel a natural repulsion toward such a creature.
When they made alliances then they would rarely go back on them, seeing the way that the Blood Demon was willing to turn on one another made them feel sick.
“Seems that in the race for it to be animated, that it didn’t have all the resources it needed. So now it is trying to consume more of the living to sustain itself,” Fred said as they started to descend toward the titan.
“I’ll go first!” Dromm’s howled as his body extended and grew bigger. Hair sprouted across his body. He quickly began filling up the oversized armor he was wearing and his tusks grew larger. The power rolling from his body increased as he became closer to his beast side than his human form. He shot through the sky toward a group of Masters.
He slammed into the ground with such speed that only a few of the Masters were able to react to his arrival.
The dust around him distorted as he appeared. The sound of metal hitting metal rang out as he punched a Master. Their armor deformed from the hit and a tombstone appeared above their head. A silver and gray power covered Dromm’s body and his fists as he moved in a blur, his small legs reaching incredible speeds.
Masters hit him but his skin had reached Body Like Sky Metal. With their techniques, it would be hard to inflict wounds unless it was inflicted with a high-Journeyman-level or higher weapon made from rare materials.
Roots moved down Fred’s sleeve and around his hand, twisting together into a sharp wooden sword that glowed in the light. A formation written in an unknown language appeared on the blade. The pressure it gave off was no lower than the Expert-level crown on his head.
William drew out a hammer that was covered in blue formations, it looked like it belonged in the hands of a giant. His body turned blue and transparent as he turned into a man of water. Elizabeth held a staff up as her tanned skin darkened and turned into a black crystal form.
Racquel rested her hands on the two swords on her waist. Reaper’s thin form started to grow in size. Branches could be seen underneath his magical robe as a green and a blue eye could be seen glowing in the darkness of his hood.
The titan seemed to realize that there were other threats nearby. Its head turned to face the four still in the sky. It let out a moan of excitement as its chest opened up, and a Mana Blast spell started to form.
“Disgusting.” Reaper’s voice was deeper, filled with the power of the world, as if he were an incarnation of the Ten Realms, its eternal justice sent forth.
A spell formation snapped into existence as a spike, ten meters long and one across, appeared next to Reaper and shot forward. There was no pause or build up like with most mages; he was able to instantly cast it. The magical wooden spike pierced right through the opening in the titan and slamming into the ground, pinning the titan to the ground.
It started to struggle as the wooden spike in its chest started to grow branches. Tree limbs pushed into its body.
It struggled against the attacks within its body to no avail.
Masters on the ground shot out attacks at the Demi-humans in the sky. Elizabeth threw up a defensive spell. The attacks smashed against the brown wall of defensive magic as William let out a yell and charged forward. Spell circles appeared around him; rain shot forward through the sky at speeds where buildings were covered in holes as if they had been shot with a bullet. Masters dropped to the ground, filled with bleeding holes.
William’s hammer glowed with a spell formation. He struck the ground with the hammer. The spell seemed to make the ground act like water; The attack rippled out, tossing people away and hitting them with an incredible force.
Attacks shot back at him haphazardly but he dodged through them with a liquid grace. He slashed out with his hammer a thin scythe of water shot out along the path of the axe, cutting through armor, buildings and people.
“You should have been paying attention to me,” Fred whispered.
Tree roots shot out from under the feet of the remaining Masters. Reaper waved his hand, tossing out seeds that shot toward the ground, exploding into movement. Green sprouts turned into vines, which transformed into bears, tigers, and wolves as they landed on the ground. The roots from underground tripped and attacked the masters, forcing them to care about themselves instead of others.
Dromm and William cut a path through the Blood Demon soldiers with the animated tree beasts by their sides as more members of the Blood Demon army rushed forward to fight them.
Racquel blurred as she disappeared from the line-up in the sky and Elizabeth cast a spell. Magical circles appeared on the ground; the dirt shuffled moved together over the stones of the buildings and the roads, creating dirt and stone golems.
Masters hit the freshly conjured golems, taking chunks out of their bodies or breaking their heads. But the golems ran forward still, taking the damage and pummeling those who got in their way.
Racquel appeared on the ground, behind the Masters who were fighting various tree beasts and others who were trying to regain their balance or fight off the roots.
Her blades flashed. With every wave of her blade, another tombstone appeared. She cut a path towards the titan who was ripping its own body apart as it pulled against the growing spike in its body.
Fred lifted his sword; roots shot out of the ground and wrapped around the titan’s arms, pulling
them back. Elizabeth cast a spell, causing the titan’s feet to sink into the ground.
The titan seemed to lose its mind. It fired Mana blasts out of its body randomly, breaking some restraints, but killing many of the Blood Demon soldiers who were fighting for their lives around it.
The titans arms compressed as the blood was sucked out of the bodies, making them wither away into nothing.
The titan shifted its now smaller arms under the roots. The withered corpses fell away to reveal bone swords on either arm covered in swirling blood curses that looked like tortured souls waiting to be released.
“Racquel, William and I will be enough.” Fred said as he descended through the sky, untouched by the battles around him. Attacks diverted around him, as if he were merely an illusion.
William charged across the ground. The water in the air pooled behind him and formed water soldiers that shot forward, clearing his path.He turned into a blue blur as he struck out at the titan as it struggled to step out from it’s legs earthy restraints.
It let out an enraged roar as the Mana around it started to fluctuate dangerously.
William struck its leg, causing an explosion from the power gathered on his hammer. His spell shredded the titan’s leg, causing it to collapse forward. The Mana dissipated and it was confused by its lack of balance.
The titan lashed out at William with his bone swords. The curses surged, becoming almost real as William dodged the attack which cut through the ground and struck several nearby Blood Demon Masters, tree beasts, and golems, causing them to wither. A thinner stream of blood-like energy returned to the titan as its leg started to regrow as it pitched forward onto the ground.
Racquel appeared on its back. Her arms glowed with deep-green magical circles as she stabbed her blades into the titan’s back.
The titan’s blood regeneration stopped as poison shot through its body. The wounds gave off a black gas and the titan started to fall apart.
The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4) Page 54