Chapter 71 - Siege of Lazhen, Part Three
“Is that Zedart and Valee? Oh shit.”
Ryan ducked back under the hill as his [Dangersense] sent him a rattle. He was trying to get the skill to latch onto the [Assassin] but whatever it was that Kenheart was doing was throwing it off. Stupid upgraded classers.
He glared at the floating [Mage].
“What the fuck Gamielle, they’re the backup?”
Gamielle didn’t show up, which meant–he looked up as he saw a flash of red. Ryan dashed away as whatever landed behind him exploded. He’d have called it a missile if it wasn’t for the exaggerated flames that spread outwards.
Then more red orbs followed, rising above the hill. The three were thrown in a perfect triangle at nearly the same speed he could move. They would have landed with him at the center.
If he dodged? Then he’d possibly end up closer to the range of the explosion.
Ryan took out his shield and jumped high.
A [Volatile Antimagic Throw] hit one of the [Fireball] orbs in midair. He hid behind his shield as he let the explosion throw him back. Ryan landed on his feet and kept running as he looked back. He grinned.
“Fuck yes!”
The explosion was large enough that it had caught one of the drones. It was now whirling towards the ground.
–
“Good work Mahjit! Send that bastard packing.”
The [Mage] took off his visor and shook his head. “The plan didn’t work, he somehow knew it was coming despite Ken triggering his [Dangersense] beforehand. We also lost a drone.”
The head receptionist stayed cheerful, happy to have made the blacklister flee.
“This is still good intel, besides we’ve got a hundred of those things.”
–
Ryan ran far out of range of the drones. He had sent one apex creature and it hadn’t even made it close to the town. The poor creature slipped on the ground and every adventurer just piled on.
It would have been funny if he didn’t look like a complete idiot. It was so bad that Gamielle wasn’t even laughing at him.
“One apex against a hundred adventurers? ”
“You said they almost got wiped! How did that happen when they got all that? Actually who the fuck has [Slippery Ground] already? Why would you even pick that? Wait no, the [Savant Mage] might have learned the spell on his own. Damned geniuses.”
Ryan’s mind was moving at a hundred miles an hour trying to process what he’d just witnessed.
“Focus you idiot, I also said they got backup.”
“You’re talking about Valee and Zedart right? They’re the backup?”
Gamielle threw up her hands.
“You figure it out.”
“Hold on, just tell me if it’s a good idea to release all the monsters at once.”
“I really can’t. ”
Zedart and Valee being here weren’t within his calculations, but neither was the town nearly getting wiped out by a herd of amperdons. He’d been so curious about the backup that he’d sent an apex creature and tried to take a quick peek despite the risk.
Valee and Zedart had stood on the walls, just letting the other adventurers deal with the apex monster. They had just stared at him, unimpressed.
Ryan narrowed his eyes.
–
The little [Rogue] didn’t actually have multiple waves of enormous monsters waiting to unleash terror on the defending adventurers. For one thing, apex monsters or even amperdons in large herds were difficult to move around. A week was nowhere long enough to neatly organize beast waves.
Still, the Witch Tyrant was almost impressed. The boy had a much greater control over his Epic than he had before. Instead of leaking it out in bursts or wasteful excess he activated it in waves.
A continued blasting of power would quickly exhaust his aura and potentially force the prey to switch to fight mode. A pulse with intervals kept the monsters packing at a reasonable pace.
An aura based Epic could be difficult to control, Ryan’s one was definitely not something he should have been able to adjust so freely. A new skill like [Aura Control] perhaps, or maybe it was something else.
Either way, in such a short while, the boy had managed to wrestle down his Epic. She had expected it to grow out of control from experiencing a true war. After the Secretary’s report she had been all but certain of it.
Instead his resolution had risen to match even the most respectable of dragonslayers.
Determination like that often made Epics easier to handle.
The Witch Tyrant was content to let the [Rogue] keep that… for now.
The Epic kept building, it started to become more of a tangible thing with each step he took. The aura smelled like blood and ash. Of war and death. The Emerald Grass seemed to pulse away from him with the flow of the Epic.
An emerald ragebear woke up from its nap. It took one look at the bloadsoaked [Rogue] and ran without making a fuss. The scarring on its back and face showed that this was a battle-wizened monster, one that knew better than to fight.
A great python slithered away, it stared at the monster for a second. The monster pointed towards Lazhen and the keen intelligence in the snake bowed and went. A sharp glint in its eye.
A giant battle-torn crow of very few feathers squawked angrily and flew overhead. When it realized the fear-inducing monster could not fly, it attempted to get its revenge by trying to hit the [Rogue] with its droppings. The [Rogue] angrily shouted at it futilely.
All the noise and the usage of a mounting Epic disturbed an ancient creature.
A hill woke up and looked at the unruly child.
The [Rogue] took one step back in surprise, and the hill, no longer impressed, went back to being a hill. A ratlike creature woke up from its shaking home within the hill. It was quickly met by the Witch Tyrant.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
It snapped up at her, eyes wide open.
“Is it time already?”
“No, just a noisy bratling. Go back to sleep, old one.”
The ratkin scoffed at the Witch and went back to lie down. Its whiskers kept twitching until the magic of the Witch Tyrant left its home.
–
“What the fuuuuuck? Hello Gamielle?”
“Leave it alone Ryan.”
“That’s not a sector three monster, what the fuck is that doing here?”
“What? You think we kill everything that crosses sectors? Some are nice and friendly, like that one.”
“Uhhh, uh-huh.”
Ryan laughed nervously. The hills on the Emerald Hills could range from what people would call regular sized hills to massive mountains on Earth. In this case, an almost mountain sized hill lifted up slightly and a giant eye had LOOKED AT HIM. It had scared the shit out of him and everything living on and around it.
He shook his head and laughed away his nerves.
“God I love being an adventurer.”
A swarm of creatures fled the shaking hill, no longer happy to live on a home that could move. There were even more than he expected. If this was the standard density of creatures of the Emerald Hills it meant that he hadn’t rounded up anywhere near the total amount of monsters he could have been herding. It probably meant that most monsters had hidden in the grass than run.
Ryan eyed the mass of monsters. . It was perhaps a little too much more than what Lazhen could handle.
“Eh, screw it… wait, is it safe to use my Epic around that thing?”
Gamielle didn’t appear or respond. made Ryan decide to stop using his active near that ‘hill’.
–
Ryan was making good progress it was just -
“Fuck!”
He started sprinting, just moments later a bombardment of bird poop landed where he had been sprinting from. The tattered half-naked bird was still trying to land its droppings on him, squawking angrily every time it missed.
The frustrating thing was that the crow was . It dove at high speeds and would hover just out of his throwing range then drop its load–and by some miraculous feat of coordination the bird shit maintained its velocity.
Not just that, but the bird dropping actually spread out like a fisherman’s net.
It had to have been magic. Just not the kind that anyone would ever learn.
The crow was far too smart to care about his aura. Ryan shook his fist at it.
“Piss off you ugly shit! The moment I get a flying skill, I’m hunting you down!”
As if the bird understood him, it screeched an outraged reply and kept circling the skies above him. The ugly blue-feathered bird didn’t match any species he had heard of, but that wasn’t too uncommon in Sector Three either.
“Okay fuck it, that’s enough. I gave them plenty of time to prepare, right Gamielle?”
“Why do you keep asking questions when you know I won’t answer them?”
“I just want a bit of company. I basically talked to myself in the Trials the entire time.”
“Maybe if you didn’t bully Valee, she and her team would have kept you company.”
“Holy shit, she’s such a blabbermouth.”
“Sounds like another [Rogue] I know.”
Ryan jogged casually, enjoying the banter with Gamielle. He pushed his Epic as he kept moving the monsters along.
–
Mahjit was hooked up to multiple drones and monitored over thirty drones with a single AR headset. He noticed something at the corner of his vision.
“We have a problem.”
“What now?”
The head receptionist of Lazhen looked over a tablet Mahjit was directing to him.
“Oh Manager’s fucking abode, what are our options?”
“After the portal capacity refresh and Realmer evac we barely have enough to evacuate ourselves. We could call for reinforcements and possibly win but…”
“Is it worth saving a single portal if it would cost so many lives?”
The head receptionist was repeating the words Zedart had thrown at him. Mahjit shook his head, knowing that it was more complicated than that.
“That is not a decision I envy, but I will support you publicly, whatever you choose.”
“Thanks.”
–
The system portal had been locked for retreating purposes only. By my estimations everyone but one or two should be able to retreat through the portals. Kenheart has volunteered to escape without using the portals himself, confident in evading the monsters with his own speed.
Most adventurers here understand the opportunity this beast wave provides. Being able to actually contribute in a defensive siege is rare for third realms and nobody has chosen to retreat early.
Unfortunately, our enthusiasm was not matched by our prowess–at least, at first.
After the initial clash I have taken control over the battle strategy, it is becoming concerningly clear that low realm adventurers are simply not competent at sieges. It is no wonder why we evacuate to non leveled zones during realm expansions.
It may be worth arguing for reformation on this end. We should not allow ourselves to be exposed by a single blacklister like this.
I have relocated adventurer Valee to the defense of the portal.
Her terrain Epic and [Enhanced Senses] makes her the most important piece of the conflict. An adventurer to look out for sure.
:
The [Assassin] Kenheart has switched to playing emergency support. His speed and callouts have saved more than five adventurers already.
We took the first casualty, a member lost their arm to a snapeater. That team has taken the portal along with another team.
94 adventurers remain.
76 adventurers remain, we’ve taken a closer perimeter around the system portal. There are just too many monsters and our lack of practice is clear. The walls do nothing against a tide like this, and the blacklister is simply redirecting monsters that attempt to flee around Lazhen.
We cannot keep this up, I cannot fill the gaps through communication alone.
fifty adventurers remain. Two apexes down but there is a hierarchy even amongst apex monsters. An emerald ragebear is sitting by one of the walls, just watching us, observing our fight. It keeps staring at Zedart and me.
24 adventurers remain.
The ragebear has finally decided to move. Zedart has taken point on this.
The elf slipped into the ragebear’s side as he sliced at its legs. Its singed hide completely ignored my [Fireball] from earlier. The [Swordsman] jumped up and into the bear’s swing. He uses economical and minimal amounts of movements to dodge the swing and stab upwards and into the bear’s eye. The blade pierced deep for the barest of instances before he kicked off the bear.
This is the third apex monster Zedart has slain. I throw a [Triplicated Spell: Fireball] to cover his retreat from the other monsters. He needs to recover his cooldowns for the next apex we cannot take down ourselves.
Seven adventurers remain.
The head receptionist, my team, Zedart, Valee and Kenheart. We’re all that remain.
It has been a massacre, but not for the adventurers.
I am proud to have withstood a beast tide alongside every adventurer here today. Unfortunately we are exhausted and the more patient apex monsters have finally started to move.
We have done our best. It is time to retreat.
–
“What do you mean you’re staying?”
Mahjit was incredulous as Zedart disagreed with his decision.
“I have something I must do.”
The [Swordsman] said it like it was a matter of fact. The [Mage] really had no idea how to deal with someone like this.
The head receptionist sighed, “Zedart, you are to retreat with all of us. That’s a direct order under code black.”
The [Swordsman] was unmoved, as if the command didn’t even seem to register. There wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind now about Zedart’s class. Only a [Swordsman] could be this stupidly stubborn.
“No.”
Mahjit threw another [Fireball] into the group of monsters that were stepping closer. The head receptionist, a third realm himself, glared at the stubborn elf.
“You do not refuse a direct order under a black alert.”
A voice called from above the system portal’s building. Valee lay back, lazily waving off everyone.
“Unless you can beat him and drag him back, don’t bother. He’s fully committed, life or death. He’ll get his duel or die trying.”
That was when Zedart stepped towards the group of monsters closest to the portal. They all took a step back from him, understanding that the first one to move would die. None of them were stronger than the ragebear, but they weren’t too far off either. There weren’t that many monsters left. Every single one was either an apex of Sector Three or had far too much self-control.
The receptionist couldn’t let this go. It would be too much of a waste to let such a talent die like this.
“Zedart–”
Valee interrupted him.
“Don’t worry. Me and Kenheart will drag him back when it gets too much. Everyone that’s not comfortable should go now. You’re realmbound, yes? You should go.”
The head receptionist gritted his teeth.
“I can’t leave the post first, I’m the damned Head Receptionist of Lazhen.”
“All the Realmers were evacuated. You stayed till the end and did a great job. Now it’s just adventurers being idiots. Go!”
The receptionist hesitated, he was brave for someone so weak and realmbound. He stopped by the portal and looked back.
“Get out safely, all of you. We can’t lose a single one of you here.”
Mahjit watched him go, his own team was looking at him for guidance. Zedart was mid combat with the monsters but a few slipped past him. It was only a matter of time until they were overwhelmed. There were still fifty monsters left, the adventurers had slain hundreds and diverted thousands, the entire town was destroyed and its surrounding was littered in monster corpses.
The monsters making a mad dash for the portal were too dangerous. One slip up and they would have to face an evolved monster. Mahjit could tell that Valee was far more tired than she let on.
It made sense to leave… yet Mahjit couldn’t, he wouldn’t back down. Not in front of actual peers. He started barking orders, organizing his team and telling Ken and Zedart where to focus.
Here they stood.
–
All of the adventurers were waning. They cleared all of the monsters going for the portal. They had somehow managed to take down fifty and survive, yet Mahjit didn’t feel elated.
Five monsters remained.
They were all patient apex monsters. All having watched and waited for this moment. One rule of adventuring was to never pick a fight with an apex that had been stalking you for a long time. Mahjit’s hand shook, for a moment he had thought that it was possible. One look at the cold intelligence of a particularly large snapeater turtle told him otherwise. It trudged forward, it had no frenzy towards the allure of the interrealm portal.
Just a clear focus on the [Swordsman]. Nothing else registered as a threat in its mind.
Even Zedart stepped back, he was covered in blood and his sword trembled. His blade had completely dulled from the endless monsters. His hand twitched for the second sword on his back.
Valee called out to Mahjit and his team.
“You should go too. You’re all scared as shit and the real monster hasn’t even arrived yet.”
“Real monster? ”
Mahjit swore then that the world went quieter, every single monster looked away from them as they turned. Over the horizon of the hill, the peak started to turn red. Valee’s casual voice was the only thing loud enough for them to hear.
“Oh, speak of the devil and he shall appear. There he is.”
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