Nova Terra: Liberator - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 5)

by Seth Ring

Thinking over the coming engagement, Thorn looked at the way the Titan Squad had been set up. His brow furrowing, he pointed to the melee DPS who were at the tail ends of the wedge.

  “But with them standing there, won’t they have to go through even more enemies? If it was a straight line of tanks they would only have to fight through one or two, but like this they’ll need to fight through all of the enemies.”

  “What do you mean?” It was Leaves’ turn to look confused.

  “Well, we’re set up like this.” Thorn traced an upside down ‘V’ in the air, the point facing the dark sky. “They are all at the bottom of the formation. If they want to get to the point they will have to fight their way up the edges of the formation, dealing with all of the werewolves who have spread out to surround the formation.”

  “Oh, I got it. I understand the confusion. Those players are going to do what you just described, but their job is cleaning up the werewolves attacking the formation. The melee DPS going after the mages are our scouts and assassins. We’ll hit them from both sides.” Leaves waved his hand to a support player and Thorn was astonished to see a dark figure detach itself from the support player’s shadow.

  “What can I do for you, commander?”

  “Thorn, this is EphemeralWhisper. She and Alabaster will be responsible for leading the charge against the mages.”

  “Nice to meet you EphemeralWhisper.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, my lord.” Saluting, the woman dipped her head. “You may call me Whisper, my lord.”

  “Mmm. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do.”

  “You will not be disappointed, my lord!” Her voice quivering with excitement, Whisper vanished back into the shadows after seeing Seven Twisted Leaves wave her away.

  Looking at Seven Twisted Leaves’ grimace, Thorn’s eyebrows rose. From what he could tell, Whisper was not a Wolfkin player so her attitude was slightly strange to him.

  “Another roleplayer?”

  “Uh, no. Just weird. But really good at her job.” Leaves’ grimace deepened. “But honestly, you should probably get used to it. There will only be more of them as time goes on. After all, you’re just about the closest thing to a real noble that most players will ever meet.

  Suppressing a shudder at the thought of players starting to address him the way his native subordinates did, Thorn quickly changed the subject.

  “Are two players going to be enough to take down the mages?”

  “I’ve asked the other scouts to support them, but Whisper and Alabaster are excellent mage hunters, so it should be okay. The only real danger will be if the mages have really strong area attack spells.”

  “That is AoE, right?” Seeing Seven Twisted Leaves nod, Thorn grinned. “Hah, I’m learning.”

  “Technically, ‘AoE’ stands for ‘Area of Effect’, but it is essentially the same thing.”

  “And you’re saying that is the danger because we’re all bunched up in this formation, right?”

  “Hah, you are learning.” Responding to Thorn’s happy smile with a smile of his own, Leaves ordered the team to move into position.

  With SoulSeeker at the front again, the Titan Squad stepped out into the open to face the enemy mobs. Just as before, as soon as the werewolves saw the players they howled and began to charge. This time, instead of SoulSeeker running out to get their attention, the whole formation surged forward at Leaves’ command. Instead of stopping and planting themselves to receive the werewolves’ charge, they continued to push forward, meeting the oncoming foes with a charge of their own.

  Sparks flew as the two sides crashed together. SoulSeeker met the first werewolf with his shield, blocking the attack and shifting slightly to deflect the werewolf’s momentum to the side. Ignoring the enemy that he had just shrugged off, SoulSeeker stabbed his sword forward to engage the second werewolf. At the same moment, Heidi jabbed her sword at the werewolf that SoulSeeker had deflected toward her, grabbing its attention.

  As the wave of enemies broke over them, the tanks skillfully attacked and blocked, pushing them down the two lines that made up the formation. Within forty seconds, the werewolves were spread thin across the outside of the formation, allowing the melee fighters to begin pushing forward, focusing on one werewolf at a time.

  “Cloud incoming!”

  Tearing his eyes from the fights that raged on either side of him, Thorn looked up in time to see one of the red-robed Wolfkin mages gesture with his wand. Thick, oily smoke began to billow from the green veined crystal, gathering into a thick cloud of pollution in the air in front of him.

  Chapter Eight

  “Don’t let him finish the spell!” Though it did not have the carrying quality of Thorn’s voice, Seven Twisted Leaves’ voice still carried well over the din of battle.

  As if the Fae Druid had cast a spell, two figures appeared next to the mage, launching deadly attacks. Alabaster held long, curved daggers that he slashed across each other as he aimed at the mage’s neck, like a pair of deadly scissors. Whisper held a different sort of weapon that Thorn had never seen before. Two small blades shaped like little claws were attached to a thin wire that connected to a rod in Whisper’s hands.

  The strange weapon looked like a short fishing rod with line attached to both sides, or a pair of kama connected to each other with detachable blades. Distracted by the strangeness of the weapon, Thorn almost missed the way that Whisper used it. With a twist of her wrist the wires wrapped around the mage’s arm, causing him to shriek as the bladed ends stabbed through his skin.

  Another twist and a loop was thrown up and over the Wolfkin mage’s head, jerking it to the side at the perfect moment for Alabaster’s curved blades to land on his exposed neck. As blood spurted, Whisper slipped under the mage’s outstretched arm, using the momentum of her movement to shift the wand’s direction from pointing toward the player’s formation to aiming directly at the other Wolfkin mage.

  *pop*

  Detaching itself from the end of the now deceased mage’s wand, the bubble of noxious gas began to float unsteadily toward the other mage. With a horrified yell, the Wolfkin mage abandoned the spell he was casting and conjured a small wind, trying to blow away the trembling cloud of poisonous gas that was tumbling toward him. Unfortunately for him, Whisper was one step faster, and with a flick of her rod one of the lines snaked out and tangled itself around his feet.

  Jerking the line, Whisper tugged the mage off balance, ruining his concentration and breaking his spell. The wind that had started to stir settled back down and the small cloud of poison settled on the unfortunate mage. Coughing and hacking as he was choked by the cloud, the mage tried to crawl out of it, only to feel the sharp points of Alabaster’s daggers sliding into this back and side.

  “See, I told you she was good.” Smiling happily, Leaves commented to Thorn who was watching the two assassins cut down the mages.

  With the long range threat gone, it did not take long for the Titan Squad to cut down the rest of the werewolves. After clearing up the battlefield, they were about to continue searching the town when a loud roar shook the street. Hearing feet pounding, Thorn looked up in time to see a few scouts running down the street as if their lives depended on it. And judging by the massive werewolf behind them, it probably did.

  *ding*

  “Uh, Thorn!”

  “Yup, I got it.”

  His expression serious, Thorn crouched down, the pistons in his leg armor hissing as they compressed. The scouts were doing their best to stay ahead of Korma’hel but the giant werewolf was closing the distance quickly. Standing nearly ten and a half feet tall, the werewolf boss was covered in thick, scarred muscle and dark fur. A pair of ripped pants was the only clothing that he wore, but despite the boss’ lack of armor, Thorn was positive that they were in for a tough fight.

  [Predator's Leap]

  Shooting forward, Thorn drew his arbalest from his inventory and fired off a shot at Korma’hel’s head. The thick bolt ripped through the a
ir, the whine from the arbalest’s string alerting the boss that something was coming his direction. Reaching up, Korma’hel casually swatted the bolt out of the air, eliciting a gasp from the watching players.

  “Get into formation! Heidi, you are the most flexible tank, so I want you to off-tank for Thorn. All other tanks, you’re on ranged DPS unless there are adds. Pick a spot on the outside of the fight to guard in case they come from the surrounding buildings or streets. DPS, we have to burn this guy down as fast as possible, but don’t exhaust yourself!”

  With Seven Twisted Leaves snapping out commands, the Titan Squad quickly organized and ran forward to join Thorn who had just passed over the heads of the scouts. With Korma’hel’s attention on him, Thorn put away his arbalest and took out his tetsubo, drawing it back over his head to deliver a powerful attack. The boss in his path snarled in disdain and drew back its fist to deliver a powerful attack of its own.

  The force of Korma’hel’s attack cracked the air, and the watching players could only suck in their breath as they imagined Thorn going flying. Only Mina and Heidi, who had played with Thorn a lot, did not seem worried. As for Thorn himself, just before their weapons connected, his serious expression cracked into a smile.

  [Moon’s Reflection]

  Thorn’s body blurred as Korma’hel’s fist slammed into the place where Thorn’s form should have been. With a ripple, the monster’s fist continued straight through Thorn’s body, throwing him off balance. Canceling his skill, Thorn whipped his tetsubo down over his head, smashing it into Korma’hel’s skull. Already off balance, even the prodigious agility of the massive werewolf was not enough to keep him on his feet, and Korma’hel stumbled forward, planting his face into the cobblestone street.

  “Iron Wolves!” Whooping with excitement at the shocking sight of Thorn knocking over a boss, Mina led the chant as she sent her ice orbs spinning into the air.

  “KILL!”

  Energized by Thorn’s first small victory, the rest of the Titan Squad rushed forward to take their positions. Seven Twisted Leaves had assigned Heidi to help Thorn tank the monstrous boss so she advanced until she was on the opposite side of the boss from Thorn. By standing on opposite sides, they were able to bait him back and forth, preventing either of them from having to face his full power.

  Though SoulSeeker had a stronger defense than Heidi did, the Elemental Warrior was significantly more flexible and her kit allowed her to kite back from Korma’hel’s attacks when necessary. An absolute defense like SoulSeeker’s was the best for facing large groups of enemies, but against a single powerful target, flexibility was the order of the day.

  Dancing back and forth as he and Heidi took turns pulling Korma’hel’s attention, Thorn could see the boss beginning to slow down. As the minutes ticked by, deep wounds began to accumulate on the boss’ body. Patches of burned or frozen skin were starting to appear as he used his incredible physique to block the ice, fire, and lightning attacks being thrown at him.

  “Careful! He is about to hit half health! Tanks, be on the lookout for adds and get them under control as soon as possible. Mina, you’re responsible for calling targets.”

  Under Seven Twisted Leaves’ experienced leadership the Titan Squad was ready when Korma’hel threw back his head and howled his frustration into the gloomy sky. Answering howls popped up from a number of the nearby side streets, and within a minute there were twenty werewolves rushing at the team from all sides. Unswayed, the tanks quickly gathered them in small groups, and Mina started calling out targets to focus the DPS’ attacks.

  Left to deal with Korma’hel on their own, Thorn and Heidi stepped up their aggression, doing their best to make sure that the werewolf boss could not escape to assist the mobs he had summoned. Ducking under Korma’hel’s swipe, Heidi saw a faint redness seeping from the ground underneath Korma’hel’s feet and furrowed her brow.

  “Thorn! I think he’s gathering energy for something!”

  Following Heidi’s pointing finger, Thorn saw strands of red mist gathering around Korma’hel. As he watched, it began to trace out a disturbing pattern on the ground. Following the mist with his eyes, Thorn saw that it was originating from the werewolves that Mina was directing the DPS to cut down.

  “That doesn’t look good.” Thorn muttered under his breath, his mind whirling. While he had no idea what the magical symbol being carved on the ground under Korma’hel’s feet would do, he was quite positive that he did not want to find out. “I think we need to move him!”

  “Move him? How on earth are we going to do that?”

  “Let’s try to lure him back the way he came.”

  “Alright!”

  Gritting her teeth, Heidi rotated around Korma’hel until she and Thorn were on the same side. Once they were side by side, the two tanks began to retreat, trying to pull Korma’hel away. As if he understood what they were trying to do, the werewolf boss simply smirked and did not chase them. Instead, he raised his hands and howled, causing the other werewolves to begin raging.

  “Well, that didn’t work.”

  Shaking his head, Thorn activated [Shadow Dash] and rocketed back toward Korma’hel. Next to him, Heidi used her [Burning Charge], leaving a trail of fire behind her as she sprinted toward Korma’hel’s legs. Seeing both tanks coming back in, the sneer on Korma’hel’s face grew more pronounced and he got ready to meet them. Remembering Thorn’s ability to phase, the boss aimed a casual blow at Thorn’s flickering figure while simultaneously sending a savage kick at Heidi.

  This time it was Heidi’s turn to avoid the attack while Thorn decided to power through. Normally, Thorn would have used [Armor of the Earth] to make himself invulnerable, but he was not confident it would work while he was in the air since it relied on dispersing the force that struck him into the ground so instead, he jumped and twisted his body in the air, reaching out for Korma’hel’s fist. Latching on to it, Thorn pulled himself over the large werewolf boss’ arm and tried to knee the monster in the face.

  The move looked spectacular but did not carry very much force behind it. Still, it forced Korma’hel to lean back which was good enough for Thorn. Landing in front of the boss, Thorn and Heidi began to attack him again, forcing him back into a defensive position. Despite the fact that they had taken control of the fight, neither was happy as they watched the red mist continue to solidify into the strange, arcane symbols on the street.

  “Thorn! We’re almost done with the adds! Get ready!”

  Gritting his teeth, Thorn sidestepped a punch and slammed his tetsubo into Korma’hel’s ribs. Despite the force of the blow, Korma’hel didn’t shift more than an inch. It was obvious that the boss was intentionally keeping his feet firmly planted on the magical symbol forming under him. Despite Heidi and Thorn’s best efforts, Korma’hel refused to be shifted. As the final few werewolves were targeted by the team’s DPS players, a sense of dread crept up Thorn’s back, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand straight up.

  With a growl, Thorn dropped his tetsubo and lunged forward, his claws burying themselves in Korma’hel’s sides. The werewolf boss was enraged and began raining blows down on Thorn’s back, but Thorn simply shrugged them off. Planting his feet firmly on the cobblestones, Thorn began to heave with all his might. As strong as Korma’hel was, he was not that heavy so he began to rise up into the air.

  Feeling his feet leaving the ground, Korma’hel went absolutely ballistic, nearly ripping himself free from Thorn’s grasp.

  [Wolf’s Rage]

  It had been a long time since Thorn had used his rage ability as he generally disliked the way it made him feel, but in this moment it felt as natural as breathing. Burning energy filled Thorn’s limbs and his claws clamped down on the struggling werewolf boss. Squatting slightly, Thorn heaved once again and activated [Predator's Leap] which had come off cooldown. The pistons in Thorn’s legs groaned in protest, but they still fired, sending Thorn and Korma’hel straight up into the air just as the last werewolf fell t
o one of Savir’s [Freezing Ray] spells.

  Red mist burst from the werewolf’s body and snaked toward the magical symbols on the ground. Settling in the remaining empty space on the cobblestones, the magic circle was complete. A brilliant bloody light burst upward, cutting through the fog and shining up into the sky. Thorn and Korma’hel had been in the air above the circle, but with a wrench Thorn twisted his body, pulling Korma’hel out of the way of the light.

  The players of the Titan Squad watched with bated breath as the red glow landed on Thorn’s back, lighting up the glistening silver with crimson rays. Without warning, the light began to pour into Thorn, who jerked and twisted, his body seeming to grow even larger than it already was. A burst of strength slammed through Thorn, and with a push, he sent Korma’hel flying into one of the buildings along the side of the street.

  The light still pouring into him, Thorn fell out of the air, sending splinters of stone flying as the cobblestones shattered under his weight. A cloud of dirt and stone lifted into the air, blocking him from his teammates’ sight. The bloody light that had been flowing from the red magic circle on the ground into his body began to flicker unsteadily.

  As Thorn’s body fell, he had landed on the edge of the magical circle, ruining it. Eyes narrowing, Mina looked between the partially ruined magical circle and the spot where Thorn had landed. Inside the cloud of settling dust, Thorn groaned and pulled himself up, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

  “Thorn! Are you okay?” Heidi rushed over to Thorn to check on him, only to feel a strong tug as Mina appeared next to her and pulled her away.

  *CRUNCH*

  Gasping, Heidi looked at the fist that had just landed where she had been standing a moment earlier. Following the gleaming silver arm up to the wolf-shaped helmet, Heidi’s eyes went wide as she stared into eyes consumed by madness. The flickering magical circle finally died, going dim as the red vanished into the cobblestones. A few last rays of the red light poured into Thorn’s back and a reddish tint shrouded his armor as his hulking figure rose to his feet and roared at the sky!