Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8)

by Michael Chatfield

  He dove, feeling the crackling power of a near miss, hurling his own in response. The fireball was the size of a beach ball instead of a tennis ball as it exploded, catching the mount and rider.

  Wazny barrelled away as arrows shot down at him. Santos was there, his repeaters connecting with the attacker. Santos dove past Wazny, who leveled out and tried to gain height. He hurled out a lightning spell that struck an armored aerial knight, then jumped between several armored warriors and mages in his group, dropping them to the ground.

  Wazny felt a rush of wind and banked away.

  Gilly passed overhead. The special teams were a force of nature. Desolation lay before them as they cut through the enemy formation. They had banked and were now flying up the tail of the formation.

  Mana gathered in Erik’s hands; the sky crackled with power. His body started to glow, the power too much for mere mortals to handle.

  Erik reached out as lightning extended from his hands. Claws of lightning fifty meters long swiped through the air. Dozens of aerial fighters were removed from the sky.

  Spells of massive power cut through the enemy. The aerial forces were no longer a silent attacker. They were rabbits fleeing from the wolves into whose den they’d just walked. Spells that missed crushed buildings and tore through streets.

  Barriers were of little consequence. “Check in!”

  “Santos here.”

  “Xia here. Bell, he didn’t… He didn’t make it. No spell scroll.”

  “Shit.” Wazny checked on Santos. “We’re going back in. Erik smashed them apart, but there are aerial forces all over the place.”

  Domonos started at the ever-changing symbols across his map as aides called out reports.

  “The eastern and western aerial forces passed over the castle district. They released formations. The undead destroyed them before they could activate.”

  “The enemy is attacking the bunkers, looking to force entry.”

  “Empty the first layer of bunkers and arm their defenses,” Domonos barked.

  “Second Division and Tiger Regiment are in the Fourth Realm.”

  “I need them in place as soon as possible,” Domonos yelled. The balance was tilting. He needed to slam the gate shut in the face of the Sects now.

  “I have reports that fighters are coming through the cities supporting the Willful Institute’s army and going right through the teleportation formations. They’ll have reinforcements soon,” Elan said.

  Domonos glanced at his father and back. “We have all the teleportation formations inside the city sealed off?”

  “Yes, the kestrels are moving to bomb the formations that were placed by the last aerial forces. Undead have been mobilized.”

  Domonos looked at the glaring hole through his bunker defensive line. “If they get into a bunker, blow it. We cannot give them a position in cover to put down their teleportation formations or access to our underground lines.” He glanced over to Hall, the man’s clenched fists and straining jaw. Those bunkers contained his men and women.

  He quickly composed himself and nodded as if to say it was behind him and he was ready to carry out his duties.

  “Release Level Three weapons. Once we’ve cleared our skies, I want the kestrels on long range spells. Sparrows are to meet up with undead flying mages and do diving attacks through their mana barriers. Have the Undead Legion move to reinforce the front line. Get them on the outer wall only if we can confirm that there are no other teleportation formations and the aerial forces are not going to be coming back.”

  “Yes, sir. Some of the bunkers have been cut off. Their formations are broken or their defenses opened up.”

  “Have them switch to operable bunkers or assist others. We don’t have anything else for them. Cancel the weather and bring the undead mages up to the walls.”

  “Lieutenant Colonel Zukal wishes to speak to you, sir,” an aide said.

  Domonos opened a sound transmission channel as Tan Xue, Qin, and other teachers from the academy entered the command center, looking at the map and the glaring path of destruction throughout the city.

  “Silaz, go.”

  “Our allies are gathering and preparing at satellite locations and are ready to attack. The barriers are going to be an issue and we need to hold the enemy here.”

  Domonos’ eyed the craters and pockmarked roads, broken houses, gardens, and fountains around the Castle District.

  “Level Three weapons have been released. That should help, and the special teams will be ready.”

  “You sure?”

  “You think we can stop those two?”

  “No.”

  “Coordinate directly with our people. The fuckers not only stockpiled barrier formations, they’re chaining them together so we can’t get to their formations. They’re pushing the bunkers.”

  “We have a breach!” an aide yelled in a panic.

  “Blow it!” Hall barked.

  A bunker disappeared as an angry red tumor ballooned, spreading from their breach point. The bunkers had been moved by the mages to cover the road. The enemy had taken heavy losses, but they soaked them up as even more of them streamed from their teleportation formations.

  They’re not consumable items but they’re using them like they are. They stockpiled everything before attempting this attack.

  “How long?” Domonos asked.

  “Within the hour.”

  “Shit, tell them I’m not sure if I can give them an hour before we have to use everything.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Domonos cut the call. “Go to fire plan Delta! Have the bunkers cover one another. Get the kestrels in the area doing runs. Hammer them with spell scrolls. And get those artillery cannons online!” Domonos yelled.

  An aide ran up. “Sir, the Vuzgal academy’s staff and their students are asking permission to help with repairs.”

  “What?” They can get some of those bunkers back into action.

  He had everyone fighting that he could. There were as many crafters in the bunkers as there was military trying to keep them together, healing and helping however they could.

  Qin stepped forward. “We aren’t fighters, but we can help repair Vuzgal and keep you in the fight.”

  Domonos looked at Tan Xue. “Do it.”

  “Thank you, Colonel.”

  Qin’s fierce expression softened as she hugged Domonos and their father. “See you later.” She turned and left the command center with the other volunteers.

  Domonos and Elan shared a look and returned to the chaos around them.

  55

  Closing the Vise

  “Level four weapons are authorized! I say again, level four weapons are authorized!”

  Acosta looked over to the massive artillery cannon that dominated two-thirds of the room. “Open the blast doors!”

  Neumann turned a formation on the wall. Lights blinked as massive gears turned. Light streamed in, glancing off the gun’s formation-covered barrel.

  Acosta put her eyes to her periscope and aimed at the leading edge of the united army charging through the outer wall.

  The weapon operated just like the mana cannon but was slaved to her periscope and fired actual rounds instead of just spells, requiring an ammunition bearer.

  She reached out and turned a formation on the wall beside her. The platform that the cannon was on rotated, as did the gears controlling the elevation of the barrel.

  Neumann worked other controls. A powerful pulley system activated as the cannon’s barrel pushed forward between the square gap in the inner and outer armor shells. He ran to the rear of the gun. There was an ammunition cradle and formation arm ready below the open breach.

  “Ready to load!” Neumann yelled.

  “Barrier Penetrator round.”

  Neumann dropped the round from his storage ring and pressed a formation. The rammer pushed the round forward. The breach closed and locked itself.

  He pushed off to the side. “Ready to fire!”


  Acosta looked over as the cannon, for the first time ever, poked out of its shields. It was primed and ready; her formations glowed dangerously.

  She checked her aim and activated the palm control. She felt the roar in her chest as the cannon barrel recoiled. Its downward momentum shifted into backward motion as its formations dimmed.

  The automatic systems kicked in, tossing out the empty casing in a blow of gas. Gas extractor formations powered up as the cannon moved forward.

  “Splash!” The round tore through a large-scale barrier of incoming reinforcements, ripping away their cover.

  The shell dropped downward, hitting secondary barriers covering the smaller units and went off in a wave of light.

  Several units disappeared in the blast, their secondary barriers torn apart by the secondary blast.

  Acosta shifted her vision as the cannon moved back into the ready position. The forward enemy units were moving among the bunkers, attacking up the hill. Their barriers gave them cover to get close to the bunkers.

  Grenades were tossed down the hill, taking out the fighters.

  The soldiers evacuated bunkers before the fighters reached them. The bunkers went up in a spray of stone and metal, killing the would-be attackers.

  Artillery cannons got into the action. Their rounds hit the barriers like a soldering iron driven into plastic before they exploded, reaping lives.

  Mana barriers started collapsing. Mana cannons fired as fast as they could reload, showing their true ability.

  The beast woke up.

  Kestrels dove from above, dropping bombs on the broken barriers.

  The United Sect Army still poured in hundreds of thousands of fighters.

  “Loaded!” Neumann yelled.

  Acosta changed her point of aim. The cannon rotated on its gears, the shield moving with it as Vuzgal’s artillery cannons bellowed in a flare of power. They tore through barriers and detonated, rarely taking more than one shot to do so.

  Marco let the viewing glasses slip from his numb fingers.

  Master Teacher Marino looked at his pale face. “Did we have no information on this?”

  “We knew they were hiding secrets, but those weapons...” Marco dragged his fingers through his hair.

  “They’re tearing our barriers apart. The aerial forces have just thirty percent of their original numbers and not one teleportation formation in the city to show for it.” Eva Marino turned to the map table, leaning heavily on it.

  “We have no more of those scrolls and have yet to engage people in person, other than inside the city. We have no idea of their numbers or condition. Master Teacher Feng Dan and Hae Woo Sung are dead. Onam is still at the front, but he’s badly wounded. They’re using weapons we didn’t even know existed. If we lose our foothold ...”

  Silence hung in the room.

  “We need to do what is best for the sect,” she said.

  Marco pulled himself together. “If we can get past their walls, then we have a chance. If we’re stuck fighting the bunkers, we have nothing.”

  “Can we only attack?” Marino asked.

  “If we don’t, the other sects will turn on us. We can’t be the first to back out. We have reinforcements coming. Get Onam to direct them forward. We don’t need to take out all the bunkers, just drive forward into the wall and the city beyond.”

  “What about the city lords? They tore through our aerial units. Their personal guards are so strong.”

  “Enough spells will take out anything. We need reinforcements to secure the city. Hold back our own people. It will take a lot of losses to take the city and they could flee. No wonder Vuzgal challenged our sect.” Marco snarled. His easy victory was coming apart at the seams. “We must push on, or else the Wilful Institute will fall, and we will never get this opportunity again.”

  The under-city was in chaos. People moved underground from one bunker and up into another. Wounded were carried away by newer undead as medics worked to stabilize them before they were teleported to the hospitals.

  Qin and Tan Xue ran through the tunnels, through the cutbacks and up to the front bunkers that had taken hits from high level spell scrolls and needed repairs. Qin started up the stairs, then froze. A solider coming down was carrying another covered in blood.

  “It’s gonna be all right, Phil. You hear me? Just gonna take you to medical!”

  “Get moving.” Tan Xue pushed Qin.

  She swallowed, allowing Tan Xue to push her.

  They reached the bunker, opening the metal door.

  “Get some, you mother fuckers!” Weapons fire rang through the other side.

  Qin walked into what had once been a bunker.

  The left section of wall had been torn away to reveal open sky. There were two bodies on the ground. Three soldiers were covered in dust, one in blood; each manned machine guns as they fired.

  “Fuck, reloading!”

  One grabbed an ammunition box, looking at them both. “Barrier’s fucked. Blinked out and Detriech got hit!”

  He used his chin to indicate to the corner. The armored housing around the mana barrier was dented and leaking power.

  Qin looked back, but the soldier was focusing on his weapon.

  “Come on, Qin,” Tan Xue said. She summoned mana blades and guided them around the mana barrier’s housing.

  Qin checked the tools on her belt and the vest she had been given. The helmet felt strange on her head like a kid playing dress-up.

  Tan Xue grabbed the half-foot thick iron housing and pulled, shifting it out of the way. Qin moved to the gap that formed as Tan Xue kept pulling.

  The mana barrier formation was a stack formation about a meter tall and a half meter wide. This one had been bent, throwing everything out of alignment.

  “Tan Xue! I need you to reform this metal!” Qin laid out materials and checked the stack numbers running down the side. She pulled out replacement plates for the ones that looked too far gone.

  “On it,” Tan Xue said.

  The sound of shooting changed as the bunker shook.

  “Eleven o’clock! Spell scroll user!”

  Tan Xue knelt beside Qin. Flames appeared around her hands and around the struts of the stack.

  It shifted, moving back into position.

  “Good,” Tan Xue said.

  The bunker shook again.

  “Don’t mean to worry you, but our barrier is now out!” a gunner yelled.

  Qin pulled out the section of plate and grabbed the rest with mana, drawing it out. She took the new plate and shoved it into place.

  The stack bloomed.

  “We’re back up!”

  Qin eyed the other plates. She didn’t have the time to take them out, work on them and put them back in. She switched out broken formations as fast as possible. Qin drew out her tools and cleaned up the carvings on the struts, causing the power to level out.

  Tan Xue had fixed the structure and used a spell, speeding up the drying and sealing process.

  “Good to go,” Qin shouted.

  Qin and Tan Xue pushed the iron covering into place. Tan Xue used a spell to repair the covering enough to hold it in place.

  “Reloading! Thank you, ladies!”

  The gunners kept at their tasks as they slipped out of the room.

  “Buffing formation for mages is out nearby.” Tan Xue started to run.

  “Okay,” Qin said.

  “You did good work. Replacing is faster than repairing when people’s lives are on the line. We can’t take the time to repair everything.” Tan Xue held her shoulder as they kept jogging.

  “Thank you.”

  Tan Xue nodded and led the way.

  They arrived at another bunker and went through the hatch.

  Five mages stood in the room on formation plates with periscopes overlooking the battlefield.

  One looked over.

  “Hey, Tanya, what’s your issue?” Tan Xue asked.

  “Formations are out. Power connection issue, I think!” Tany
a turned back to the fight. Her Doberman was sitting off to the side, alert and watching.

  Qin felt the gathering of power, bending the natural world to the mages will and attacking others with its sheer power. The conqueror’s armor gave them a new level of fighting ability.

  Qin reached down to a formation plate and peeled back a layer of the housing. Formations linked into the power runes below. They ran like veins all the way back to the dungeon core.

  “There’s an issue up here. Raw mana must’ve got into the runes and blown out the ones here. Tan Xue, at the stairs where we came up, go left down the hall to the broken section. It’ll need to be repaired to fix this.”

  “Okay, I’ll head back down.”

  Tan Xue ran back out of the room.

  A mage staggered as he released his spell, grabbing the railing around his formation as he pulled out a mana recovery potion and chugged it.

  Qin could smell how powerful the potion was, but the man treated it like water. All the mages were covered in sweat as they chanted or twisted their hands, bending the elements to their will.

  Light flashed in the bunker.

  “Fuckers,” a mage spat as the group gathered their strength, drawing from their own power.

  “Make sure to conserve! Use external mana to supplement your own!” Tanya barked. She pressed her hand forward, completing a spell as a thunderous roar echoed through the bunker.

  Qin reached the buffing formation panel of the bunker.

  She opened it and got a shock of raw mana through her mana system. The formations had melted from the overload and the runes were smoking.

  Qin ran to another panel amid the light display going on throughout the bunker. She opened the panel and pulled out her tools, carving into the formations; power fluctuated in the room.

  The formations looked worse for her tampering, but power surged through the buffing formations.

  “You’re jacked into the main power! No breaker between you and the main power lines now. Just a temporary fix!”