Escalation

by Matthew Peed

  It didn’t take them more than a minute or two to get around the horde. Blasts of mana and other more solid projectiles were flung at them but were much too slow to hit the Raptors moving at such speeds. They circled around, then spread out to hit as large an area as possible. Soon the bombs were dropped, some even crushing monsters as they collided with the ground. It only took a second before a massive boom sounded out from the rear of the horde.

  The blast spread until they connected with each other, using the fire mana to feed the reaction to increase the size of the explosion. I was really pleased with what you could do with magic in this world. The explosion did the trick, forcing the horde to rush forward recklessly. The death ball traps reactivated, but some of them were sealed successfully. The death balls slammed into the entrance. While some suffered from a bit of damage, others managed to crack the seal, then the rest burst through.

  It looked like the horde was at least partially prepared this time, as they had some terra-based monsters that managed to literally grab the balls. They got their hands and arms torn up pretty badly in the process. One even sacrificed itself by crushing the ball under its body, and most of its torso was ripped apart. A few guarded the lightning-based monsters, which were emitting as much energy as fast as they could to take out the balls.

  At this point, it was just a matter of attrition. There were a hundred of the death balls at the start. The horde was taking them out at a rate of about one per fifty monsters. If they’d had a mortal commander, or at least one with a conscience, then they might have ordered a retreat by then. I really only had pity for the monsters that were being controlled at this point.

  After a terrible number of losses, the horde managed to make it through the second layer of defense. I tapped my chin in thought. While I considered the second layer a moderate success, if it had been a mortal army, I probably wouldn’t have done as much damage. I quickly compiled a few improvements that I could make to my mental list, then turned to the third layer.

  This layer was roughly six hundred meters out from the first wall. Here, the traps were much more straightforward but quite a bit more vicious. The first batch made it halfway through before anything happened. With a large heat spike, everything within ten meters of the lead monster’s spot melted into a paste. The ground turned into a solid black and brittle charred mess. Only a few monster remains still existed in the incinerating zone. Blackened bones were the main theme.

  It was a simple thing to do, just requiring precise control of the mana in the area. I used it much like I would fire mana, only I accelerated the process by a hundredfold. So, where a regular mage could make a fireball in a few seconds, I could create a flash incineration in the same amount of time. I just needed to change all the ambient mana in the spot to fire mana at about one-to-five ratios. Simple but effective.

  Add into that the use of simple chemistry, and I had a powerful spell. By converting large areas of the spell’s zone to oxygen and hydrogen, I could reach a scale that was quite dangerous. I would have to consider showing Ezal this in the future. Though, it might be a bit too much power for her to have.

  The bonus was that even if a fire monster were to try to get through it, without oxygen its body would get roasted from the inside. And if it were made out of flesh and blood . . . I wasn’t sure what would happen if a flame golem or something that was made of flames were to get hit by it. I considered this because the fire mana was under my control. So if a fire elemental were to get hit by it, I wasn’t sure if its body would be changed or not.

  I lost track of how many monsters had died in this section. Alright, not really. Nearly two thousand died, mainly due to the press of monsters behind them, before terra monsters saved the day again. The mastermind must have come to the conclusion that it was a spell matrix of some kind, thus he’d ordered his monsters to destroy the land in front of the horde before they reached it. It worked out pretty well, as it achieved its objective. But what they didn’t account for was the matrix overloading due to the damage, which then proceeded to blow a large section of the ground into pits much deeper than the ones the monsters had fallen into earlier.

  The horde had lost half of its original strength. I could tell by this point that the owner, or whoever was in control, didn’t care about the casualties they were suffering. If that was going to be the case, I would put these monsters out of their misery. It helped me gain mana and to run tests on magic and techniques that I wanted to test.

  The fourth layer was the last hundred meters before the outermost wall of the city around Steel Spire. It was also what I considered the most deadly. All along the rim of the tower platform, panels opened. If the turrets on the forest floor were considered tier one, these were tier two.

  The monsters rushed toward the wall, maybe bolstered by their apparent success of getting through the first three defensive lines. When they were directly under the rim of the tower, a black sheet of what appeared to be rain fell as the turrets lit up from the continuous firing. Bullets slammed into the ground in seconds.

  Anything in the rounds’ path was obliterated. Using carbon lead and steel alloy, the rounds were dense enough to pierce through orichalcum given enough energy. Dropping from over a thousand meters in the air after being fired gave them quite the punch. Even I couldn’t think of a way to easily deal with something like this.

  With the final push halted, I was getting ready for the next layer’s test. There were only about three thousand monsters left in the horde. I could deal with them in any manner of ways. Even now, they didn’t show any signs of letting up the push. I was ninety percent sure that whoever was commanding them had already fled.

  I was using my dungeon aura, as well as my more mechanical means to search the horde, but was finding nothing. It was in line with the necromancer calling, however. They wouldn’t risk their life when they could return with a new plan. It was one of the things that made dealing with them so annoying.

  A wave of despair washed through one of my links. I quickly examined them all to see what was going on. Julie was having the time of her life, from the joy I was sensing from her. In fact, I think it spiked a bit when I touched the link. There was nothing unusual from Jarvis. I sensed a bit of stress from Wrakras. Finally, I checked Louella and Ezal. I didn’t feel much of anything from Ezal, but Louella was in full-on panic mode it seemed like.

  Even though I was enjoying my testing, I really didn’t want to lose my mortal connections right now, as, while they did what I said, they still didn’t just follow my orders without me giving reasons. I enjoyed the conversations we had as well. As the saying goes, you need to help your friends when they’re in need.

  I pulled out a new device from my inventory. On Earth it might have been called a “smart bomb.” Hell, it might have been smarter than some of the people on this world. It had the body of a drone and used an amplified type of air magic for its attack. I released it and it shot off toward the center of the horde. As I sent the order for attack, I created a barrier near the wall, just to be safe.

  A few moments later a high-pitched sound could be heard from the drone. The sound quickly passed some of the monsters’ range of hearing, but others started to convulse in pain. Once the frequency reached a certain point, none of the monsters were able to hear it. Some thought the attack was over and resumed their rush into the town.

  Only the most sensitive of creatures were able to detect the signal at this point. In particular, I felt sorry for the canine-based monsters. Just from a quick observation, nearly all the ones that remained were whining on the ground with their paws on her heads.

  For nearly thirty seconds nothing happened, then the chest of one of the monsters exploded. Soon, a wavelike rhythm went through the horde from where the drone was positioned as the monsters, no matter what element they were, died from their chests exploding. I felt a shock wave on my barrier and knew the wave had reached the town. The mana drain as well as the gain increased by the second. I waited for nearly a
minute to let the wave hit several kilometers worth of area.

  While I couldn’t be sure I’d succeed, I hoped that I would manage to bag one of the necromancers in the attack. I ordered the drone to return to the tower, then turned my attention to Louella. I could see for a good distance around her thanks to the bracelet, which seemed to be amplified by the one Ezal was wearing. I was about to teleport to her, ship and all, when an intense burst of energy flowed back along the connection.

  Chapter 17

  Julie

  The little girl really did drop me off in the middle of the battlefield. I would have to make sure to annoy her when I got back. It was the waiting that was killing me. She’d sent me out here shortly after we arrived at the riverbed, but she had no way of knowing when the horde would attack. That left me sitting there, twirling my thumbs.

  What the master saw in the little girl I wasn’t sure. A personage who knew death and destruction on his scale shouldn’t have to help someone as insufficient as her. Though, she did possess quite a bit of fate. When I thought about the scale of her fate, even I couldn’t help shuddering.

  “Annoying brat,” I said, pursing my lips as I carved curses into the tree I was sitting on. Even being the twenty meters up that I was made me groan when I looked down, but at least I knew I’d walk away fine from a fall from this height. Master’s tower was ridiculous. Only something not of this world could create a structure like that. Then there were the souls around him. I’d never seen something so . . . massive. Innumerable souls all packed around him. It was glorious.

  The day passed while I sat in the tree, waiting for the horde. She wanted me to wait until most of it had passed and attack from the back. I couldn’t help but smirk when I thought of her ordering me to do what necromancers do best. I channeled darkness mana into my eyes. The world shifted to a grayscale around me as souls of the dead drifted by.

  In the distance, I could make out a vortex of souls. What many people didn’t realize was that the souls of the dead left an afterimage on the person who killed them. I believed that it was used as a form of judgment on a person when they went to the afterlife. I would have to wait until I was able to talk to a Celestial to learn the truth.

  Shrouding my aura in darkness, I waited. The horde crashed through the forest around me. A massive turtle that was easily thirty or forty meters long flew over me. A slave collar was clamped on its tail. Green and black cracks ran toward its front. I wanted to take the creature for a ride but figured that would get me in trouble.

  Finally, the main host of the horde passed. I managed to sense a few underground, but there was little I could do about those. I double-checked but couldn’t find any necromancers. Hiding was what we were good at, I thought with a chuckle. I never thought I would be hunting my own side. Not that it really mattered to me.

  I jumped down on a weird land-bird monster. It ducked as and tried to throw me. I shoved my hand into its back, killing it instantly, and accessed the little unholy mana that master allowed me to use. Flooding it into the bird, I quickly brought it back to life.

  Removing my hand, I drew my blades. It was time to wreak some havoc. I urged the undead bird forward while slicing a wolf that leaped at me in half. I grinned as blood splashed over me. The scent of fresh blood caused the monsters nearest me to react. I ordered the bird to keep moving even if it attacked.

  Soon, we were in the middle of the rear of the horde. No matter where I swung my blade I sliced something off. I allowed dark and unholy mana to flow around me, causing death and destruction with ease. Blades made of darkness whirled around me while I unleashed unholy bolts that usually killed in seconds.

  After only a minute, I was laughing at the bloodshed around me. Licking my lips, I could taste several different flavors, which only made me laugh harder. Glorious death! This was what I lived for! I could almost feel the death mana sweeping into me and making me stronger.

  A strong blast of mana sent me flying, the initial blow blocked by my barrier. My flight came to an end as I slammed against a tree. Green fire lashed around me as the tree quickly caught flame. I looked up to see a necromancer walking toward me. I didn’t recognize him, but that was normal.

  “Why is one of us helping the enemy?” asked the man as he drew a sword from his belt.

  “Sounded like fun,” I replied, cracking my neck. Depending on who was commanding this operation, I could be in over my head. If it was a necromancer from over the mountains, then it might be difficult for me to win. I grinned at the thought. It wasn’t any fun if it was too easy.

  “Pity. I can see great promise in your aura. You might have been able to see the holy land.”

  “I have a feeling I’m going to see it one way or another,” I said with a shrug. Master had already drilled a tunnel to the north. I doubted he was going to stop with just that. There was little that I felt could stop Master. My undead stomach was proof of that. The pain of the lead bullet penetrating me was still a pleasant memory.

  “Silence, swine!” he yelled before he shot toward me.

  I grinned and charged as well. We collided and our barriers cracked as they hit each other. I didn’t hesitate to bring my blade around, using the curve to place the blade in a hard-to-defend crack. Fire and unholy mana met my blade and pushed me back.

  I flared my dark and unholy mana as well. I shot to the side and kicked a monster into him. He brought his blade around and sliced it in half. Before he could think, I sent another one flying at him. I laughed as I rushed through the horde and sent the smaller monster after the first. They were reacting to me hitting them, so he couldn’t just dodge the beasts without getting clawed or bitten.

  “This is fun!” I shouted.

  “Girl, I’m going to enjoy slicing your heart out!” he shouted back.

  Sounds from the battle grew louder as our fight took us closer to the fort. I suddenly felt Master’s gaze on me. Thrilled that he was looking at me, I shot forward after sending several monsters at the necromancer. With skilled sword work, he managed to slice them all in half.

  Appearing in front of him with a burst of darkness, I brought both blades around in extremely awkward lines. He managed to block one, but my other blade tore a gash in his chest. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as he backed away, trying to let the monsters block him.

  I quickly followed after him. He soon left the monster horde. The creatures, more concerned with attacking the fort than dealing with me, allowed me to be able to follow him. I found him trying to channel unholy mana into the wound. Not wanting to give him a chance, I threw one of my blades. The crescent blade sank hilt deep into his stomach.

  “Well well well. I wonder if master would like a new toy,” I said, walking up to him.

  “Bit . . . ch . . . I . . . ’ll . . . kill . . . you.”

  “Aw. You’re so cute. You know, I have enough competition with Wrakras,” I said with a finger on my chin.

  The man actually looked confused until I slammed my hand into his eye socket. To make sure I killed him, I forced darkness mana through his skull, turning his brain to mush. Finally, I cut off his head and crushed it under my heel.

  You just couldn’t be too careful with necromancers. I looked up from the mess, wondering if there was anything left for me to do. I didn’t feel like I’d killed enough thanks to being interrupted by this guy.

  Chapter 18

  Louella

  We slammed into the ground as I clung to Wrakras’s back. The fall was quick and easy. Thankfully, it looked like Wrakras was able to handle it. I climbed out of the same crater we’d made, then looked around for Ezal. I saw her a hundred meters from the wall. She was still in the air but fell quicker as the time passed. I looked around for nearby adventurers.

  “The commander is about to collapse! I need support to retrieve her!” I shouted as we ran toward the gate.

  I wasn’t sure when, but Bruce joined us as we ran. The aura around him made me worried for anything that got in his path. The wet ground qui
ckly dried as he ran over it. And the rain evaporated before it touched him.

  “Here to lend a hand,” Noir said as she fell into stride with us. Her sisters were next to her.

  “Much appreciated,” I replied. They were a powerful adventurer group, and I would need a decent amount of power to reach Ezal.

  We ran as fast as we could to the pseudo gate where a large group of adventurers had grouped up. They made ready to open the gate to let us out. I drew both my pistols. I would need the rapid fire rather than power.

  “We’ll provide cover from the wall!” a mage shouted down from above me.

  I nodded, then braced myself. Two Terra mages sent a blast of mana into the gates to force them open quickly. Two monsters were even knocked back from being hit by the doors. Bruce led the way as we rushed out.

  The party followed the red glow into the distance. Ezal had landed but it seemed Feuer was protecting her for the moment. Luckily, the main part of the horde hadn’t hit us yet, just the forerunners. We had to hurry, or we would all die when the main host overran this point. Flames grew around Bruce as he took off in Ezal’s direction. For such a large man, he moved fast enough to almost leave afterimages.

  The rest of the party followed after. Spikes of shadow would burst from around Noir every now and then. A large catlike monster leaped at the party and was sliced or pierced precisely through the head. Several of the party had active effects like this going on around them. Hannah would swing her ax, and a wave of terra would ripple out and tear through the onrushing monsters.

  I wasn’t slacking off either. With my pistols aimed ahead of us, I would shoot anything that was heading in our direction. I managed to score a head shot with some type of bull monster that was three times my height. Wrakras was also using the dark mana version of his attacks to participate, but he had to be careful not to alarm any of the members of the party.

  Spells rained down from the fort, providing us with some manner of cover. Fireballs and ice spikes were the most common, as they were the easiest to control. A triple-headed monster that appeared to be made up of two dogs and a cat was turned into charcoal from a spell that hit it point-blank. I would have to increase the reward for the adventurers if we survived this.