“Nearly ready, sir,” another officer said anxiously. “They’ll be ready to fire any moment now.”
The commander fixed his gaze back on the wooden palisade. “Good. It’s time to bring the fight to them.”
***
Nihilator’s Sanction triggered.
Due to receiving a fatal amount of damage, you have transformed into a being of shadow for one minute. You are completely undetectable and invulnerable for the duration and may move freely. Once the duration is over, you will return to the material plane, fully healed. Mana regenerates at the normal rate. This ability will not be usable again for the next 24 hours.
The battlefield faded into darkness as my ability transferred me into the shadow plane.
The nearest catapult was 200 meters away. I didn’t waste time sprinting for it at full speed. As I ran, the surrounding shadows swirled into my body, restoring my health to full.
I could see soldiers around the catapult ahead of me. It seemed that the enemy had anticipated we might try to go for them and had put about 30 armed men to defend it. My lips peeled back into a feral grin. They should have made it a hundred.
I reached the catapult area just as the sanction’s duration ran out, and I burst from the shadows flinging spells.
The soldiers’ levels ranged between 10 to 20, not nearly enough to stop a level 60, tier 3 boss.
I summoned my shadow clone, shot a Direball at a group of six, then froze five more, sending my dagger flying to claim their lives.
Within two heartbeats, nearly half of the guards were dead. The rest barely had time to draw their weapons before I hit them again. My clone hurled another Direball, killing five men, and I followed through with two consecutive Direballs of my own, downing most of the remaining soldiers while I froze and sacrificed the few surviving ones.
I let out a satisfied chuckle. This was fun. Going all-out, not having to constantly punch above my level … just a goblin chief bringing death and destruction to his enemies.
I could get used to that.
I checked my mana bar and winced. My copious use of the Direball spell, coupled with the need to maintain my clone under direct sunlight, had taken a toll. I’d burned through 1,500 MP, a quarter of my total, in a matter of seconds.
I wasted no time taking the catapult apart. I’d killed the engineering crew, along with the soldiers, so there was no one to stop me from doing what I pleased. Instead of using another costly Direball, I launched three volleys of drilling arrows from my cloned and physical body, targeting axles and stress points. The 18 conjured spinning drill bits justified their name by burrowing deeply into the wood and metal, disintegrating the entire contraption before me.
One down, three to go, I thought.
Still here, I said lightly. Nothing wrong with taking pleasure in one’s work.
Shut up.
By now the enemy army had noticed what I’d done, and a force of several hundred soldiers was running toward me. It was time to move on.
I reached out with my mind, gathering what few shadows I could find around me, and cast Shadow Hound. It took a moment to empower the spell before eight, level 23 mastiffs rose from the pooling darkness, and I wasted no time sending them out to engage the coming force. Due to the brightness, their levels were relatively low, putting them at around the same strength as the enemy soldiers. But with any luck, their insubstantial bodies would hold long enough against the soldiers’ unenchanted weapons for me to destroy the rest of the catapults.
I turned and ran for the next catapult a hundred meters away. My shadow clone was faster, reaching a spell-flinging distance within seconds. The next catapult’s guards were ready for me, but they were just as low-leveled as the ones before them. If anything, they made the fight easier as they closed ranks to form a line, presenting an excellent target for a Direball. The first Direball killed half and scattered the rest.
Still running with my physical body, I sent my dagger ahead of me and, using my shadow, froze five fleeing soldiers, took control of the arriving dagger, and sacrificed them all.
I arrived seconds later, and a few concentrated drilling arrows cleared out the rest of the guards. I allowed myself a backward glance and saw that the mastiffs had been successful at delaying the attack force. The soldiers’ plain swords passed harmlessly through their darkness-made bodies. But I knew it wouldn’t last for long. I had to keep going.
A loud cracking sound echoed through the open space. I turned with both bodies and watched as the other two catapults launched their payloads.
Each catapult sent a flaming barrel that passed above our palisade and exploded in a torrent of fire on the other side. In tandem, the full bulk of their army finally moved, heading for the walls in a light jog. My soldiers retaliated by raining arrows at them, but not nearly the amount it needed to be. It was hard shooting back when your friends were being burnt alive around you.
I had to hurry.
I decided to split and charge the other two catapults at once. I ran for the closest one while my shadow dove for the farthest.
My clone arrived first and launched a Direball against the defenders. These had learned the lessons of their friends and kept loose formations, so the spell only caught three of them. I couldn’t afford to take the time to pick them off one by one, but then again, the soldiers weren’t the objective. I directed the next Direball at the siege weapon itself. The spell detonated, bursting apart the wooden frame. The damage was extensive but not complete. I cast it again, but to my surprise, it evaporated before impact, swallowed into another one of those glowing blue orbs. The next thing I knew, I was hit with crackling energy, and my shadowy form dissipated.
I reached the last catapult with my physical body and cut the mana flow to my clone. If enemy mages were around, it would be too costly to try to maintain it. This catapult’s guardians were also widely spaced, so I simply ignored them and sent two volleys of Drilling Arrows at the machine, watching as it fell apart.
The guards recognized their chance and came for me. Several of them fired crossbows, and two of the bolts made it past my mithril vest, drawing blood. The damage was minuscule, but I didn’t let myself get overconfident. My single use of Nihilator’s Sanction was out for the day, and I felt strangely vulnerable without it.
Eight warriors closed in on me carefully, holding up their shields as they approached striking distance. I raised my Mana Shield and blasted another Direball at their feet, trusting the magical barrier to protect me from the blast. It did. My mana bar shrank by a few percent as it soaked up the damage, while the eight shieldmen were shredded to pieces. Another burst of crossbow bolts was launched at me, still failing to penetrate my shield. The rest of the melee fighters seemed reluctant to get too close to me.
The catapult was disabled but still not damaged enough for my taste. I sent two more drilling arrow attacks at it, reducing it to a pile of wood and metal. As an afterthought, I froze and sacrificed five more soldiers, racking up the faith points. The remaining dozen or so seemed to have had enough and dropped their weapons to flee.
I felt slightly cheated at that.
My shield rippled wildly as a tremendous force impacted it, eating away 5 percent of my mana bar.
I turned and saw a knight clad in bright golden armor approaching. The shield he’d thrown at me was soaring through the air back at him.
“You’re too late.” I gave him a shit-eating grin. “I already took out your precious catapults.” Just to make my point, I threw a Direball at him.
He didn’t bother to respond, and, with his shield back on his arm, swatted my spell to the side where it detonated harmlessly against the ground. Then he charged at me.
I simply grinned at him again. “Can’t stay and play, gotta run, but I’ll see you later.” I let my voice drop into a gro
wl. “That’s a promise.”
Then I teleported back to Nihilator’s zone of influence at the hamlet.
***
“Sir, we’re taking casualties!” a messenger shouted. “The palisade archers are slaughtering our men.”
“Damn it.” Sir Lanceington’s jaw tightened. “The catapults were supposed to keep them down.”
“Shall I call off the attack, sir?” an officer asked.
“No,” he shot back. “We’ll take more casualties that way. There’s no helping it; we’re committed now. We can still take the walls, but it’s just become a lot more costly.”
The dwarf approached. “Sounds like someone oughta have listened to me.”
“How the hell does he keep getting into the command area?” the officer hissed.
Ragnar grinned. “What are you gonna do about it, mama’s boy?” The threat in his voice was unmistakable.
The officer paled in anger and drew his sword. “I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
“Lieutenant, stand down,” Sir Lanceington commanded. He looked at the player. “It seems you were right before. You now have my full attention.”
Ragnar shrugged. “The beasties will do anything to try and flank ya, so better be ready for that.”
“Impossible,” the lieutenant spat. “We’ve got their position locked down.”
The commander looked steadily at the dwarf and nodded slowly. “Very well, divert a third of our melee fighters to the back of our line.”
“Sir, that could be disastrous,” the officer protested. “We need all hands to take those walls.”
“It would be even more disastrous if the traveler is right,” the commander pointed out, still holding the player’s gaze. “I’m giving you a field promotion. You’re now a captain. I expect to see you fighting along with the men on the front lines.”
Ragnar bared his teeth. “Time to bathe in some greenies’ blood.”
***
I ran outside the temple and scanned the battlefield. Several dozen of our soldiers had been killed by the two catapult shots, but the flames were already being extinguished, and our archers were shooting at the approaching enemies as fast as they could. Behind the walls, hobs stood next to Ogres, waiting for the enemies to punch through.
“Steady,” I heard the small general shouting. “Savol says you must hold the line.”
If not for the enemy force that was breathing down our necks, it would have been almost comical watching the small goblin order tall hobs and gigantic Ogres around.
Right. Do I have enough FP for that?
“Shadow-crap!” I fumed. I had completely forgotten I could do that. “Why didn’t you remind me about it earlier?”
Vic said lightly .
“Yes,” I replied with a straight face, “that was absolutely the reason.”
I opened ‘Energy Options’ and, ignoring Vic’s amused snort, spent 18,000 EP to purchase FP, bringing my faith points count to exactly 3,000.
The advancing army was almost at our walls now and well within the hamlet’s zone of influence. I felt a smug grin spread across my face. It was time for the big, dark surprise.
I opened the Dark Temple’s blessings interface, highlighted the desired blessing, and bought the first two ranks at once.
Zone blessing [Eternal Night: Rank 2] activated
The local zone of influence has become permanently shrouded in darkness, never again to be illuminated by the sun.
The blessing’s effects are highly concentrated around the Dark Temple (the following general effects are doubled at a 20-meter radius).
Shadow-Touched creatures in the zone receive:
● +20% max HP & MP
● MP & HP regen increased by 100%
● Upkeep reduced by 50%
● Non-combat skills +100% effectiveness
Unprotected enemies suffer:
● -30% XP gain
● -50% HP & MP regeneration
As my dark deity’s power manifested, a deep, evil chuckle sounded, seemingly coming from everywhere. Darkness oozed out of the ground and expanded upward into the air, blotting out the sun. Blackness fell over the battlefield.
To my surprise, the enemy’s attack didn’t falter. Instead, hundreds of the soldiers began exuding soft white glows, banishing the darkness around them and shedding enough light for them and their comrades to see and fight.
“They came prepared,” Sullivan said, somehow appearing next to me without me noticing.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “They might be able to see, but they’ll still suffer the debuffs, and our soldiers just got stronger.”
The strategist nodded. “Our chances just got a whole lot better, but it’s not over yet. The battle isn’t even fully joined yet. But we’re getting there.”
I watched as the first rank of enemy fighters reached the walls and hacked at it with axes, lobbed firebombs at it, or simply threw up ropes and started climbing.
My archers never stopped firing, and soon, hundreds of enemy corpses littered the battleground. Despite their losses, the enemy still outnumbered us by almost a full thousand. Sullivan was right; the battle wasn’t decided yet.
“I have another assignment for you,” he said. “The enemy’s heavy hitters haven’t engaged yet, so we have some time to prepare a few more surprises.” He looked at me, his expression serious. “I need you to go out there again. Now that the bulk of their force is committed and close to our walls, their rear is relatively unguarded. Think you can sneak out and put up a few war camps like we did when we attacked Novenguard? I want open portals behind the enemy lines.”
“I can do that, but if it’s just portals you want, there’s no need to raise a whole war camp; we just need a working shrine. But I’ll need a builder with me to lay the groundwork, and they’ll need building materials.”
“Someone called for a builder?” A smiling hob covered in piecemeal mithril armor stepped out of the portal.
“Zuban?” I looked at the hob in surprise. I knew my chief constructor detested combat.
“I was told we might need to build something in a hurry,” he explained. “But my builders aren’t suited for war; a single hit will kill most of them. So here I am.”
He was right, of course. Thanks to my concentrated efforts of speed-leveling the hob to fix the Breeder’s Den, Zuban was now level 40, much higher than the average enemy soldier. He was more capable of enduring a hit than the rest of the non-combatant workers.
“You sure you’re up for this?” I asked. “It will likely involve fighting.”
He took a deep breath. “I am ready, Chief. I have one of your satchels of holding here with the bones we need for a shrine, but we still have to transport some wood with us. I’m afraid it might get cumbersome.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t a shrine require stone?”
“It does, but my Constructor skill is high enough to replace one resource with another. The result will be substandard, but it should hold for the duration of the battle.”
“Bring the bones, and don’t worry about the wood,” I said. “I happen to know of several piles of discarded lumber we can use.” I looked around and located Aidanriel who was merrily flinging large boulders at the enemies beyond the walls. “I’ll also need to take the golem with me for this one.”
Sullivan nodded. “Alright. Good luck out there. I’ll prepare our forces to march as soon as you open the portals.”
***
Zuban, Aidanriel, and I appeared at the edge of the zone of darkness, past the enemy lines
.
Thanks to the Eternal Night blessing, the zone of influence had grown, putting us a mere 100 meters away from the nearest catapult wreckage. There were a few enemies between us and our destination, but they were all lower-level than us; mostly logistic and support staff. They weren’t a threat.
“Aidanriel, carve us a path,” I ordered.
“With pleasure, mate.”
The golem retracted his limbs, shaping himself into a man-sized wrecking ball. He rolled ahead, straight toward the ruins of the catapult. Several isolated soldiers attempted to stop him by shooting arrows. The armored creature simply rolled over them, turning them into human patties with audible squelching sounds. “Oi, that’s gotta hurt!”
Zuban and I ran after the rolling calamity. Several arrows rained down on us, but the unenchanted projectiles bounced off our mithril armor. We reached the small mound of lumber several seconds later.
“Will that do?” I asked, gesturing at the remains of the catapult.
“Yes, Dire Totem,” Zuban replied distractedly, already in the process of arranging pieces of lumber and bones into familiar shapes.
“I just need you to set it up,” I said, scanning the field around us apprehensively.
“My apologies.” Zuban didn’t look up from his work. “It has been a while since I’ve done any actual construction by hand.”
Our appearance hadn’t gone unnoticed. Several dozen enemies started closing in on us.
“It is done,” Zuban said and stepped away from the piles of lumber and bones.
I nodded and concentrated on the pile.
Rush Shrine construction? (Required Energy: 100, available: 256,020). Yes/No
I approved the cost.
The shimmering visage of a shrine appeared. Then the materials flew around, arranging themselves to match the form. A moment later, a shrine of wood and bone appeared.
I wasted no time in opening the Runecraft Design Mode and applying the portal schema to the ground around it. By now our enemies were moments from reaching our position.
Life Reset: Conquest (New Era Online Book 5) Page 23
