Wave 2! appeared in my vision. “What?” I gasped as I watched the new number count appear. There was no break? No, of course not! Why would there be? This wasn’t a game; it was an actual attack by outlaws. Why had I assumed there’d be a break? Curse my sportsmanship!
Enemies Remaining: 10
This wave was smaller. I wanted to believe that was good news, but my gut told me that these were going to be heavier hitters.
The first golem appeared in the bottom left—the fastest route to my sphere. This was a very different kind of golem from the ones I had seen before. It was a floating pillar, made of smooth meerschaum, its head an ornately carved skull. Black flames radiated around the entire pillar as it bobbed up and down. Groaning, I clicked on the description of the new entity.
Terror Golem: This unique golem radiates energy that causes enemy golems to go into a panic. No defending golem may enter six squares surrounding this unit. If the Terror Golem moves towards a defending golem, it will be forced to retreat.
My Berserker Golem took one look at the Terror Golem and decided it had better things to do with its day. The supposedly “unyielding” golem backed up as quickly as possible, forced to retreat any way the floating pillar went. The pillar continued to chase my golem, forcing it to rush as fast as it could to the second enemy spawn point. Four Karracks appeared at the second spawn point at that exact moment and they easily killed my hulking golem.
I squinted as I watched this unfold. These were not…not the actions of automatons sent into the battle to mindlessly attack. That brilliant ambush suggested an intelligence was actively directing these things. But how? I thought only the Starmetal Signet could control the golems?
I didn’t have time to come up with a theory, however, for more golems were emerging from the second spawn point. They looked to be Barrier Golems, little floating orbs that stopped elemental attacks, but these were just a little different. The three Barrier Golems floated in a triangle formation around the Karracks and the Terror Golem. Once in place, they created a large blue dome around them, repelling all shots from my ballistae.
At the same time, two Siege Golems popped out at the first entrance, kneeling down and entering their 2 minute preparation time. The enemy forces all converged atop one another, the Barrier Golems expertly shielding their allies from all harm. Nothing was in range of my towers yet, so all I could do was wait. Wait and plan some counter.
I glanced at the Terror Golem and then at my Chase Golems. They should be able to take down at least one Siege construct, but how would they get close? The Terror Golem had taken some damage from the ballistae, but the unit was also armored, making the damage minute at best.
I quickly opened up the Alchemical Bombardment ability and looked at the notes my alchemist aid had written up for me previously.
Quicksilver: When combined with a mana blast, causes a huge explosion damaging everything in a six square area. This explosion bypasses all forms of damage resistance.
Ichor: Binds all units in a target square for 1 minute.
Pulvarium: Causes target golem to become brittle. Every time the golem makes an attack, it receives half of the damage it deals out.
Lectinus: Accelerates the movement of all units within target square by 3x for 1 minute.
Aquani: Interferes with the pathfinding energies of a target golem, causing them to move through the maze backwards until they reach the beginning again.
Calator: Creates a four-square-sized black cloud upon impact, obscuring the targeting abilities of any unit within the area. Units cannot attack while within the black cloud, but turrets cannot target those units either.
Solin: This oil creates a thick coat around a target unit. Oil absorbs 90% of magical attacks for 2 minutes.
Sandozium: This dry grain compound is rough, coarse and gets everywhere, infecting target golem, dealing damage to armor. When target golem occupies the same square as other golems, the Sandozium spreads to those golems regardless of their allegiance. This compound wears off when all armor has been consumed.
Aquani! Of course! I didn’t have to kill the Terror Golem, I just had to move it away from the group. Such a feat wouldn’t take much effort, truly. Just a healthy amount of expert timing and an even healthier amount of luck was needed to pull this off.
Chapter 10
The siege engines awoke; the massive behemoths with arms the size of tree trunks climbed up onto their feet and shrugged left to right, as if they truly had been sleeping. I gritted my teeth and readied my order of action. I had to hit them hard, fast and in the right sequence, lest those beasts break my defenses and annihilate the Mana Sphere.
The first step was to delay the advancement wholly. It was a painful move, but I had to do it. I ordered my Shield Golem to block off the main path, forcing the two Siege Golems to attack to get it. The Shield Golem would hold up for a little while, but with the extra damage from the Karrack Golems, it wouldn’t be that long. Time enough, however, for me to execute the next step.
As I had suspected, the Barrier Golems were able to block off the brilliant triple beams from my Karrack Towers, absorbing the mana from the energy neutral attack while simultaneously blocking the bolts from my ballistae. This was high level stuff, way disproportionate for fighting a Level 1 gentry, but then again, these guys were just using whatever they had stolen. Proper sportsmanship was not on their agenda.
While the Siege Golems laid waste to my poor little Shield Golem, I activated my Alchemical Bombardment ability, selecting Aquani and targeting the Terror Golem specifically. From the heavens, a small blue vial came falling down, bypassing the barrier and shattering over the Terror Golem. Instantly, the golem began to retreat backwards, right as my Shield Golem fell to pieces, opening up the pathway.
In an instant, I ordered the Frost Golems blocking the lane to activate Polar Vortex, causing a wild white storm of snow and ice to appear over the choke point. The storm slowly swirled, more and more, until it became a whirlwind, freezing over the enemy units. Much to my surprise, as the ice overtook the Barrier Golems, the shield vanished!
There was little time to act, but I managed to execute both plans at the same time. First, I ordered the Chase Golems to swarm the now inert Siege Golems. These small little scarab-like golems complied quickly, scampering forward, chittering as they scuttled over the barricades. They moved quickly and were atop the Siege Golems in an instant, biting and stabbing their little spiked legs into the big beasts. I could see the damage was rather steady, dropping the enemy health bar slowly and constantly.
My second action was to urge my Frost Golems to march forward, hoping they would reach the enemy Barrier Golems in time. However, in the heat of the moment, I had forgotten about my newly improved Karrack Towers. The frozen enemy Karrack soldiers were shattered by the powerful triple beams that swept across the battlefield like a scythe. By the time my Frost Golems were within firing range, only the siege beasts remained.
I noticed that the Terror Golem was not simply retreating to the spawn point it had emerged from. The Aquani seemed to short-circuit its map finding abilities so much that it was going all the way back to the top of the maze, at the furthest spawn point. As it marched backwards, it fell into range of every last Ballista Tower. And while armor greatly reduced incoming damage, the sheer amount of bolts striking the golem every 10 seconds pretty much meant there would be nothing left.
Returning my focus to the choke point, I noticed there was only one Siege Golem left. It stormed forward, absorbing the hits from the Thorn Towers. These large towers were basically shaped like one long thorn with dozens of small thorns sticking out of them. The spikes fired from each tower as the siege beast tried to move past them, its health dropping faster and faster with each passing second. And then came the click! The gloriously loud click as the Automated Boulder Dispenser recognized a foe.
The device itself was just a large scaffold with a ramp attached to it. Atop the scaffolding was a p
latform that swirled with mystic energy, bringing a huge stone boulder into existence. The clicking was caused by the ramp lowering down, swinging to let the payload loose. The boulder came rolling down, perfectly moving along the lane I had created for it.
The Siege Golem had stopped to try and attack one of the Thorn Towers, but the boulder wasn’t about to let that happen. The huge rolling stone, nearly as big as the siege construct, crashed into the beast at full speed. There was a horrible cacophony, one that somewhat reminded me of two wagons rolling into each other at full speed. The boulder did not stop and merrily ripped the Siege Golem to pieces, continuing on its path without losing any speed.
Of course, in any form of scientific endeavor to learn new things, there are sacrifices. And my poor Frost Golems were unfortunately those sacrifices for my test drive of the Boulder Dispenser. They were flattened like pancakes, smooshed into dust by the boulder as it continued its course. It reached the end of the map and faded instantly, simply blinking out of existence.
I let out a deep sigh of relief as the wave ended but tried not to relax too much. The battle was still raging. Who knows what enemies would be coming immediately next?
Wave 3:
Enemies Remaining: 30
I gritted my teeth and waited for the enemy to arrive. All four spawn points activated at once as a massive swarm of Vulture Golems came flying out of all corners of the map. I felt at first a supreme terror at the sight of so many flyers, knowing they’d bypass the farmlands and my barricades, but let out a short breath upon realizing my Repulsion Towers would do their job.
And how marvelous of a job these wonderful towers did! Since the fastest path to the Mana Sphere in the center was a straight line, all golems were converging diagonally, flying across the map with great speed. However, I had anticipated this, placing those towers at all four corners. These marvelous towers, with their glistening white domes and crackling mana energy, fired off pulses of kinetic power, creating shockwaves in the air.
These shockwaves sent the vultures scattering in all directions at once. Well, not all directions, because truthfully, they were only going one way: down. The impact of being struck in midair and thrown like a ragdoll decimated these pitiful vultures with ease. And the few that didn’t take full damage due to landing atop barricades were quickly sniped by the ballistae. Thank the Stars that I had thought to put those towers there. Because had I not, those vultures would have annihilated my Mana Sphere, especially since I had already used my wave power for the day.
I wiped the sweat from my brow as the round ended and the next wave immediately began. Final Wave! It was curious to see the words Final Wave, for normally my enemies would surrender before the final wave. Strange to finally see it all the way through.
Remaining Enemies: 1
Well, this was either a throw-away unit or something earth-shattering. I didn’t have time to utter a request to the Stars, for immediately the enemy golem emerged. My eyes went wide, and my jaw dropped at the horrific sight.
The golem itself was perhaps thirty feet tall, made entirely out of iron. It was in the shape of a classical knight from the old ways of war, holding a massive shield in one hand and a great lance in the other. It lurched forward, causing the ground to shatter with each step. Never had I seen a golem of such size before! Sure, they were normally tall, but this big? This was a veritable giant! Something able to kill just about any unit or tower in its way. How the hell did they fit that in the back of a wagon?
Before I could say or do anything, however, the Grid crackled to life in front of me. Restricted Unit Detected. Extraction Imminent.
And then…a bolt of lightning struck the giant golem. It was the same lightning that had been used to transport Judges from battle to battle. Only this time, the lightning didn’t place anything, rather it simply took the golem away. There was nothing left but a smoking crater where it had been standing. Of all the times for the Stars to show favor on me, they certainly picked the right moment!
Chapter 11
The battle had ended abruptly. The enemy forces were thoroughly thrashed (and one was apparently abducted, I suppose), leaving the bandits defenseless. The moment I told Esha that the fight was over, and we had won, I heard a loud, piercing whistle in the room, followed by whistles being returned. Within seconds, elven men and women had emerged from the farmlands, apparently having been hidden there beforehand.
The bandits, who had been trying to get onto their damaged wagons to escape, tried to surrender as they were flanked by thirty fighters, but no quarter was given. Spears and scythes were used to cut them down in seconds. I quickly turned off the Grid, wanting to see no more of such carnage.
When reality returned to me, I discovered I was in a different room altogether. No longer was I in the medical bedroom. Instead, I was in a rather luxurious lounge, full of red floor pillows that littered the ground. I was reclining on a golden pillow, gently nestled against Esha, who was still rubbing my back.
I sat up quickly and hopped to my feet, embarrassed to be so close to her and suffering from a terrible set of leg cramps as well. I had been so stiff and focused; I had no clue that they had moved me during this time, and it was a surprise how achy my body was. I couldn’t help but wonder as the feeling returned to me, would I have noticed if someone stabbed me? I wasn’t so engrossed in the battle that I’d overlook that, right?
“You have done us a tremendous service, Blake,” Esha said as she rose to her feet. She bowed deeply before me, then in a most strange manner, grabbed hold of her long hair and held it up to my forehead, gently dabbing the sweat from my brow. It was an odd, intimate and almost…motherly act, a sign of caring and kindness. I allowed her to do so, unsure of what this custom signified.
“It was my responsibility, Mrs. Esha,” I replied, standing as still as possible as she continued the ritual.
“Call me Mother now,” she said. “I cannot allow one who defended our homeland to speak as an outsider to this clan.”
“Yes, Kinmother,” I replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. She chuckled a little and brought her hair down.
“Just Mother,” she replied. “Only my husbands call me Kinmother. And I think I am too far old for you.”
I nodded but said no more. It was odd to call a near complete stranger mother. Well…I had never been able to call anyone mother, really. So that just made it feel even weirder.
Perhaps noticing my discomfort, Esha changed the topic, turning around and offering her arm to me. I took it and followed after her. “You accepted responsibility for your actions and worked to aid us. We are truly in your debt. But I fear I must ask more of you,” she said.
“You want me to stay your protectorate?” I guessed, knowing full well that would be the question. A disorganized group of bandits were trouble enough, but for an actual noble to take umbrage with the Kinteli people? Without a Gridmaster calling the shots, they’d be helpless to adapt and take charge.
“Indeed,” she replied, leading me through the lounge into a great hall, full of beautiful metal sculptures. These sculptures were not in the Velecian custom of portraying human figures in great and precise anatomical detail. Rather they were thin, wiry pieces of metal, twisted and bent into forms of motion. Though they were not “humanoid” in a literal sense, I felt like each piece portrayed a different person in action. One was firing a bow, one was leaping, two were dancing together and one was on its knees, looking up at something.
“These are stunning,” I muttered, changing the topic briefly.
“Elven Prescenta, figures in motion,” she explained, stopping before one figure that seemed to be struggling with a choice. Its head was tilted one way, but its torso aiming the other. “What do you see in this one?”
“Indecision,” I replied. “Someone who wants it both ways but can’t have it.”
“This prescenta is called Tradition and Integration,” Esha said with a little sigh. “It was created when we
arrived here, to live as you humans do. The head looks back at tradition with longing…”
“But the body urges it forward because going back is too dangerous,” I finished. I felt a little smug about how well I understood this piece. Looks like those art appreciation classes weren’t for nothing, after all.
“It would be sacrilege back home to allow a non-elf to rule over us. And the Crown recognizes such and leaves us alone. But to survive, I must pass the power of protection to you, for as long as it will take to recover our Starmetal Signet. Tradition would never allow it, but integration requires us to continue to move forward. To adopt your ways if we are to survive,” she explained, her voice growing a little choked up as she continued. “And we must survive. Losing our nobility would mean…having no place to go.”
“I know what it’s like to have one’s way of life threatened, “I said. “Not to your degree, obviously, but I know the fear that rests in your gut, ma’am. It’s like an unending gnawing, always chewing away, reminding you that at any time the other shoe will drop, and you’ll be out of luck.”
“Then we are kindred spirits,” Esha said, turning to look into my eyes. I could see such weariness in the matriarch. Weariness and terror at giving me this power. But I could also see resignation from a woman who couldn’t keep this charade up any longer. “Somehow, I don’t feel like I’m taking a risk in offering you this role. Perhaps it is your uncle’s nature that I see in you. Or maybe I’m too desperate to care any longer. Either way, I’ll set the protectorate for one month. We’ll see how it goes.”
“That’s fair enough,” I said. I paused for a beat, realizing I was agreeing to a large undertaking without any discussion of compensation. But…did that matter here? These people were refugees, foreigners who had nowhere else to go, for their homeland was long gone. I couldn’t very well demand they give me a reward in order to look after them. That wasn’t honorable or acceptable in any way. Besides, serving as their proxy in battle would at least help my skills stay sharp.
Gentleman's Wars 2: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series Page 6
