The exploratory golem committee didn’t even make it to the Phlogiston Cannons before the massive boulder crashed through them, obliterating the enemy force with ease. The Boulder Golems simply came apart from the force of the massive rolling boulder, whereas the Shaman Golems were crushed beneath it, their remains grounded into a fine powder. The boulder continued on its journey and smashed into the end of the map, causing no damage to anything.
I grinned at the sight of my strategy working so well. The boulder hit really hard, enough to break 20 golems at once. And that was before they even made it to the boulder trap on their lane. Let’s hope the fight stays this good.
Another group arrived, the same composition as before, except a Shield Golem was standing at the front of the forces, slowly making its way forward. The entire golem was made out of steel that glinted in the morning sun and I frowned. Shield Golems reduced just about all damage from physical sources. Then again, the Phlogiston’s fire could cause a great deal of injury to it. Though I had those healer golems in the back to worry about. They could use their power to buff the Shield Golem and even heal it.
The Thorn Towers at the entrance had immediately released their spike payload upon the Shield Golem arriving, their spikes doing very little damage to the construct. They might be armor piercing, but the Shield Golem’s damage reduction still applied, rendering the attacks fairly useless. However, having wasted all their spikes, the Thorns had to recharge, waiting a few seconds to regrow their spines. I’d have to get the timing right but I could take out the Shaman Golems in the back if I…
I waited one beat, two, three, just as the fourth shaman in the back, escorted by one Boulder Golem to draw aggro from any nearby towers, passed by the middle Thorn Tower. Immediately, I selected one of the shamans with the Target Marker, triggering the Thorn Towers, which still hadn’t fully regenerated, to fire off all their spikes. Just as I had hoped, the damage burst, while not maximized, was still enough to kill the Shaman Golems. The Baron’s plan to counter my thorns by triggering them immediately had almost worked, but my Target Marker had changed up the rules, as the Thorn Towers automatically attacked, regardless of how many spines they had.
Meanwhile, the first lane boulder was triggered right as the Shield Golem got into range. The top lane boulder hadn’t fired off yet, still needing time to recharge, but it would be ready for the next wave. I watched as the boulder crashed into the Shield Golem. Unfortunately, the iron golem was simply too strong for the boulder to power through. The large rolling stone exploded on contact with the Shield Golem, dropping the shield’s health down to 50%. Thankfully, there were no shamans around to heal him back up.
The Phlogiston Cannons triggered as the shield passed the first checkpoint and the blazing flames considerably slowed down the construct that was already crawling along. This created a traffic jam as the 15 Boulder Golems behind it were forced to stop, for they were considerably faster than their shieldbearer.
There came a loud click as one of the Boulder Golems, standing idly by, triggered the boulder switch from the top lane. I could not help but chuckle as the second boulder came barreling down from the top, moving swiftly towards its target. The Shield Golem had been softened up enough by the perpetual flame of the Phlogiston Cannon and stood no chance against the boulder this time. It shattered into pieces as the boulder rolled through it, crushing a few of the golems behind. Unfortunately, the Shield Golem had slowed the boulder down enough for it to lose momentum. One of the Boulder Golems swung its mighty fist, shattering the large stone before continuing on its journey.
Seven Boulder Golems remained, but they had little chance against the Phlogiston Cannons. The great flames consumed them quickly, leaving me to return my focus to the next swarm coming out. Flyers! Ten winged golems came flying out of the spawn point, but they were not the regular Vulture Golems I was used to seeing.
These were griffin-shaped golems, with great noble wings that spread out like that of a bird. These flying units were far heartier than your run-of-the-mill vultures, and they functioned differently too. Rather than fly straight for the end point, Griffin Golems performed dive bomb maneuvers on targeted buildings, damaging them greatly.
I gritted my teeth at the sight of these building attackers. Fortunately, I had a swarm of Wrench Golems to repair anything broken, but ten of these things? They might be able to kill something before my repair monkeys could get to them.
I watched as the griffins dive-bombed straight towards the boulder on the top lane. They came down quite fast, hurtling as quickly as possible, using their long stone claws to rake the large unit. The tower shuddered from the damage, its health dropping down to 75%. The Griffins swooped back up into the sky to ready another attack.
I only had 26 enemies left, so I had few options other than to use my Alchemical Bombardment ability. I selected the Ichor option and waited for the griffins to dive-bomb once more. These golems were pack hunters, so they all made the exact same attack at the same time, conveniently clustering together. As they swooped down, I dropped a large vial of sticky goop onto them, immediately binding their wings and forcing them to plummet to the ground.
They took quite a bit of damage from the fall, but not as much as the boulder caused when it activated due to their proximity. As the shrieking golems lay on the ground, unable to get back up, the boulder easily paved over them, continuing on its journey until it reached the end of the map.
Whew…that was a close one. I’d need to figure out some kind of way to prevent that from happening again. I glanced at the Gorn unit. I hadn’t used him yet, in order to keep my opponent unaware of his capabilities…but that sniper mode would have made short work of those griffins. I decided to preemptively switch the Gorn’s capacity to sniper mode, that way it could hit any fliers who were attacking my towers. I certainly hated to give up my secret weapon so early on, however. Oh well, you can’t keep everything a secret.
The final swarm of the first wave came pouring out, 20 Karrack Golems and 6 regular Stone Golems. Nothing more than a bunch of dregs, meant to reinforce the heavy hitters who were supposed to be well ahead by now. Without any ground secured by their allies, however, these golems were as good as dead. And indeed, the first lane boulder made very short work of them, ending the round in one swift blow.
Wave ended! Wave 2 begins in 5 minutes! the Grid warned me as I let out a deep breath. I had survived wave 1 out of 4.
“Hey, don’t relax, ya jerk,” Joeth barked.
“You can see me?” I asked.
“No, but I know the temptation to slack the hell off after a sweeping victory. He knows your map now, be prepared for hard counters coming up. And fix the Stardamned gap in your air security. Those griffins almost ruined the whole strategy for you.”
Joeth’s words were a harsh reminder that I couldn’t take it easy. I had to focus. I could place new towers during the break, so I was quick to move some barricades around, replacing them with Repulsion Towers. These would still block off the main route, but would protect the nearby Boulder Dispensers from any further air-attacks.
I scanned the battlefield, looking for any other signs of trouble. Everything seemed fine for now, yet Joeth was right. The Baron had gone into the fight blind, but now he knew at least half of my strategy. The next wave would be much, much harder.
Chapter 38
The horns blared, informing me it was time for Wave 2. I glanced at the wave count to see who was coming my way.
Wave 2/4
Enemies Remaining: 100
Total Enemies: 300
A hundred golems might seem intimidating, but they’d still have to travel single file across four lanes of bouldery hell. That would cut down the majority of the numbers. At least, so I hoped.
“A commendable defense in the first act,” the Baron’s disembodied voice said over the Grid. “I can see now why you were so unwilling to negotiate. But maybe we should bring that topic back up during the next break.�
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I ignored his attempts to get into my head and focused on the upcoming battle. The wave began and a solitary golem emerged from the spawn point. This ghastly pale golem was somewhat reminiscent of the Grim Reaper, hovering above the ground, long scythe in hand. All it needed was a pale hood and it would be a perfect personification of death.
No other golems emerged yet. I selected the scythe-wielding golem to read a quick blurb about it.
Gate Golem (Unique Unit): This grim-looking model is capable of opening up an ephemeral gate connecting two points together. This allows golems to pass from one point to the other, instantly traversing the space in between. CAUTION, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER EPHEMERAL GATE! NONE HAVE RETURNED.
Well, that didn’t sound good. It seems they figured out teleportation on some level, though apparently not safe for humans to travel. The Gate Golem swung its scythe in the air, a thin shield of energy blocking the spines being fired at it by the Thorn Towers. With a swipe of the scythe, the golem was gone.
A strange translucent outline appeared on the map; it was in the shape of a scythe. The outline passed through everything effortlessly, making its way to the end point of the wall. Immediately, the Gate Golem appeared back in reality, swiping its scythe once more, opening up a hole in the air itself. Back at the front of the map, right before the spawn point, a similar hole opened, crackling with blue energy within. The enemy golems now had a passage to the end point of the battle!
The Gate Golem floated high above the Berserker Golem that darted towards it, narrowly avoiding the giant stone axe swinging towards its head. My ballistae fired diligently but the thin energy shield caused the attacks to bounce off harmlessly. The bolts had no effect.
Boulder Golems were starting to emerge now, heading straight for the portal. The Thorn Towers had done little to damage them by the time they blinked out of the area, teleporting straight to the end point of the map. I had to kill the damn Gate Golem as fast as possible.
I selected Gorn, who was standing idly by, waiting for orders, and ordered it to fire at the Gate Golem. The large blocky construct with the huge cannon sticking out of its center was quick to oblige. It angled the gun upwards to where the spectral golem was hovering and fired. The sound of the cannon was near deafening, even from my height, and I could feel the ground shake beneath me as it unleashed a pinpoint accurate shot.
The Gate Golem’s shield broke instantly and I used Target Marker to order all ballistae to fire upon it. Bolts came flying through the air, piercing the skeletal creature with ease, killing it. The golem let out a ghastly wail and, as it faded in mid-air, so too did the portals. Only about ten Boulder Golems made it through the portal. Though that was still a bit of a problem, for they immediately began focusing on the wall.
Massive fists met magically-enhanced stone. I held my breath as I watched the hit points drop down by…a measly five points. Thank the Stars! The wall was sufficiently able to absorb most of the blows. It would take quite some time for them to even take 100 points off of a 5,000 HP wall. I’d have to send a very extravagant gift to Nelson for agreeing to fund the wall.
I ordered my Gorn to retreat, moving back towards the arbalests that were set up. The damn thing had fired point blank a few times, bringing its own health to 70%. Fortunately, the little Wrench Golems, having already repaired my boulder trap, were quick to rush to fix the Treasure Golem. I had honestly forgotten that the golem counted as a building for repair purposes!
The Boulder Golems ignored my berserker, for they were only capable of attacking the battlefield objective. This meant that they were more or less helpless to be hacked to pieces by a giant stone axe while they uselessly smashed against the wall. They would not be surviving much longer.
I turned my attention down to the bottom of the maze to see a near endless swarm of Boulder, Karrack and regular Stone Golems shambling forward. Had that Gate Golem lived any longer, a flood of golems would be at the wall. Now, they were having to take the long way, and the Baron didn’t seem to anticipate me having a hard counter to his specialty golem.
I watched as boulders, flames and thorns made a thorough spectacle out of killing the enemy swarm. The boulders particularly were exceptional at finishing off the enemy force, rolling through everything without losing any momentum. I had lost complete and total count of the enemies remaining, but could see the number in the right-hand corner, ticking down so fast if I blinked, it would drop down by ten.
The horde strategy had some effectiveness, for about seven Boulder Golems were able to reach the second lane which was the furthest any land unit had gone. One step forward caused the now familiar clicking sound, followed by the even more familiar sound of a boulder rolling from the third lane, down to greet the survivors. I swear I even heard the Boulder Golems groan as they saw the large stone rolling towards them as quickly as possible. One strike and the round was over. 100 down, 300 to go.
The break began once again, with the clock ticking down from five minutes. There was the temptation to relax and chuckle to myself, but I quickly remembered that Joeth would kick my ass should he know I was slacking. I had to make some changes to the Grid, if for no other reason than to throw off my enemy’s plans.
I will give the Baron one thing: he was quite unpredictable. I would have assumed the next round would have been a flood of Griffin Golems, since they had forced me to use a special ability, but it appeared that was not the case. Maybe he was anticipating me correcting the gaps in my defense. If that were the case, I had to assume he would use the same strategy for the next fight. He would not attempt the same thing again. Instead, some other trick would come my way.
I placed two Karrack Golems by the damaged part of the wall, to ensure that any breaches in security would be struck by a concentrated blast of energy. That should be enough to hopefully counter any more Gate Golems (though I suspected that he only had the one, for it was a unique unit. Could you have more than one? I should have studied more, dammit.)
“That Treasure Golem is a risky play,” the Baron said. “Losing it would be a terrible shame. Now, I know you feel that you have done a good job keeping me at bay, and indeed you have, but are you sure you want to commit to this? Losing such a powerful unit would be terribly expensive for your long-term strategy.” There was a strange sincerity in his voice, almost as if he were genuinely concerned for me. Or perhaps that was overconfidence mixed with pity.
Rather than trade barbs with the man, I opted to keep my mouth shut. I merely waited out the timer and readied myself for the next wave.
Wave 3/4
Enemies Remaining: 100
Total Enemies: 200
Another wave of a hundred. That meant, unfortunately, that the final wave would be composed of 200 enemies. Unless he decided to just give up in the fight. I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to that.
The first member of the swarm emerged, a little red glowing imp, one I recognized all too well. An Ignition Golem. I was quick to activate Defuse on the explosive bastard before it was struck by a Thorn Tower and killed. No explosion. That was close!
More Ignition Golems came swarming out. I had no way to stop them from exploding this time around, because I could only use my ability every thirty seconds. Explosions rocked the opening area, heavily damaging my barricades. My Wrench Golems rushed into action, but the endless stream of explosive imps did not seem to end. My brave barricades were able to withstand three hits before shattering, killing the Wrench Golems along with them.
This caused an opening in the map, allowing the continuous stream of surviving imps to run forward, exploding as they were struck by the boulder trap which triggered the moment it sensed their proximity. But before they could blow up, I cast Mana Shield on the trap, shielding it from the blast. More imps came charging in, destroying the Thorn Towers as they were struck. I gritted my teeth, watching in horror as the sheer number of imps decimated the setup of my first section. Their explosions destroyed the Thorn Towers, the
boulder trap (for I could not muster a shield a second time) and then the top barricades.
A huge shortcut now existed on my map, allowing the enemy to skip the first section entirely and move right into the midsection, where the Karrack Towers awaited. Fortunately, the range of the Karracks and the tri-beams were enough to strike the Ignition Golems as they rushed up, causing them all to explode in the same spot, mitigating any further damage.
By the end of it all, 90 Ignition Golems had been deployed. Enough to devastate my defensive structures and eradicate my barricades, as well as the Wrench Golems responsible for repairing them. There was very little left of the first section by the end of it.
The next group appeared. Ten Siege Golems came lumbering out, pushing one another as they tried to get onto the Grid. Once they were all situated on five squares, two on each square, they all knelt down in unison, a powerful armored shield extending over them while the timer began.
I had two minutes before they would awaken and begin storming towards the midsection. But that was plenty of time to quite literally pull out the big guns. I selected the Gorn and switched its fire mode to barrage, then ordered it to move to the center of the Karrack Tower section. This would put it within range of the incoming Siege Golems. Next, I checked the golem’s elemental fire ability to ensure it was shooting electricity, which bypassed armor. Fortunately, the setting was the same. This would make hurting the lumbering beasts quite easy.
Last, I prepared my next Alchemical Bombardment ability just in case they were able to move quickly. With a dose of Ichor hitting the lead Siege Golems, the rest wouldn’t be able to move forward. I could then let the Gorn fire on them, doing considerable damage within a minute. Then I could use my refresh ability to get one more free minute of inert Siege Golems.
Gentleman's Wars 2: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series Page 24
