“I’ll take it!” Tanya yelled as she gathered her power.
The mana responded as it flooded toward her. The mages glowed with the power running through their bodies, drawn in through their mana gates.
Qin returned to the main breaker panel and pulled out the broken sections. She repaired what she could and pulled out new pieces of plate, cutting them to fit and writing into the metal, her brush strokes leaving runes behind.
She slammed them into place as the bunker shook violently.
“Looks like they found us, teacher!” a mage yelled.
“All they have are spell scrolls. Not one real mage among them!” Tanya yelled.
Qin looked out of the slit at the front of the trench. The mana barrier was shaking fiercely, coloring as attack after attack rained down upon them.
“Qin, get the hell out of here!”
“I have a job to do!” Qin yelled, working on the panel still.
Sound rushed into the bunker.
“Barrier is gone!”
Qin was thrown against the panel she was working on. She rolled on the ground. Part of the bunker had been carved away. Mages near the broken wall groaned, having been hit with the rocks. The other mages stood back up and cast their spells.
Tanya glowed with power as she formed a mana barrier, taking several hits from spell scrolls. A section of roof collapsed under a spell, covering the mages.
“Get the hell out of here now!” Tanya yelled.
Mages grabbed the wounded and one grabbed Qin, pulling her away.
“No, what are you doing?” Qin tried to push the mage off. He threw her over his shoulder as she punched and kicked him.
Tetsu enlarged to his full size as the bunker started to come apart, nearly reaching the ceiling as he sat next to Tanya.
“Get out of here, you big idiot!” Qin could tell Tanya was crying as she grunted and dropped to her knee under the weight of the attacks and the drain of power on her body.
Qin was thrown to the side. Rocks hit her as she fell to the ground. Darkness found her as she looked around. Why was she on the ground and not on that man’s shoulders? And where was Tanya?
She pushed some rocks aside to see a whole section had collapsed. Tanya was on the ground under Tetsu, who had covered her from the attack and taken the impact of the roof.
Qin coughed in the dust as another spell struck the bunker. Her legs were trapped under some broken section of stone.
“Qin!” Tan Xue yelled as she ran into the bunker.
Qin tried to speak but got a mouthful of dust. Tan Xue grabbed the mage that had been carrying Qin out and pulled him to his feet.
“Over here!” Qin used a mana manipulation spell to toss the stone off her. She grunted at the pain that ran through her legs.
“Get her out of here! I’ll get Tanya!” Tan Xue yelled.
Tan Xue ran through the collapsing bunker, grabbing onto Tanya and pulling her free. Qin bit into her lip as the mage grabbed her pulled her free.
He picked her up in his arms and ran down the stairs.
An explosion went off behind them, dust and smoke filling the air in a rush.
“Tan Xue! Tanya!” she yelled as the mage gritted his teeth. Medics rushed past them, taking the stairs two at a time as the mage continued down.
“We need to help them!” she yelled grabbing onto the man’s shirt and trying to leverage herself over his shoulder. Her grip was like iron.
“Put her down on the stretcher.”
He lowered her down, but she tried to fight him, to get her feet under her. She growled in pain from her legs touching the ground as she was laid down on the stretcher.
“Help them!” Qin felt tourniquets pinch her legs, making her groan. A needle pricked her skin as the pain dissolved and she tried to sit up. Medics worked over her as the mage looked up the stairs. The mages moved down the stairs with one person.
They looked at the mage and Qin, shaking their heads.
“No, noo!” Qin yelled. Tears rolled down her dust-covered face as the medic held her in place.
“You have to let me go! She needs me, I can’t leave her up there.”
The bearer waved something under her nose. Qin coughed. Her limbs weakened and her head felt fuzzy.
The lights shuddered with the near explosion.
“She’s good to move! Go!” A medic told two bearers at either end of the stretcher.
Qin cried as the lights passed overhead, dust falling from the explosions above.
“Tanya. Tan Xue…”
The medic got another to assist, putting her onto a stretcher held by two undead and affixed a tag to her vest. “Take her to the hospital.”
The ceiling moved past quickly and Qin saw lights passing as her vision faded.
56
Double Down
Head Foster read the latest report from Vuzgal. “To think that a small city state has that much power,” he growled.
Cai Bo stood there, waiting.
“Regular soldiers as strong as people in the Seventh and their lords’ power unknown! How did we not know of this?” His eyes weighed down on Cai Bo.
She didn’t say anything. It would only draw greater ire.
Head Foster threw the report down. “They have the power to contend with us here. The power to reach into the Seventh Realm, but they maintain a city in the Fourth Realm. We attacked a fat pig thinking it would solve our problems. Instead, it was a tiger in disguise! If we do not win, they will swallow us all. If not them, then the sects that we have taken cities from in the last month and our allies will seek repayment and look to avert Vuzgal’s anger. No, we must win this!”
Foster looked back and forth, trying to think of a solution.
“What about the students in the Seventh Realm?”
Foster grimaced. “They are pillars of our sect. If we were to lose them, our connection to the higher realms would be severed. We would have to recover them all over again. They will demand a great price from us to intervene.”
Rugrat cursed as his machine gun stopped firing. “Goddamn double-feeding piece of shit!”
“They let you come out and play as well?” Erik yelled as he crouched, running with his special teams. He came to a halt near Rugrat. “This looks like a good spot! Even has a resident redneck for entertainment!”
The special teams checked their gear, laying out ammunition boxes, mounts, and formation plates.
“Are we going to spontaneously fucking combust being so close?” Rugrat yelled, clearing his gun.
“They’re pushing for the wall. Best place for us to be!” Erik was toting a grenade launcher as he rose over the wall. Picking out targets, he raised the launcher skyward, casting explosive shot, and fired.
The grenades looked like red meteors with the spell Erik had laid on them.
“Fucking belt feed is all fucked on this!” Rugrat slapped in the belt feed and pulled the cocking handle, firing a burst into the swarm below.
Erik reloaded his grenade launcher. The other members of the special teams used spell scrolls, grenade launchers, and machine guns.
“Close Protection Detail coming up!” a voice called out.
“¡Ocupado! Check down east and west!” Erik yelled.
“Well, shit! I was hoping for room service and folded sheets!” the second lieutenant who appeared grinned.
“We’ll head east!”
“Good luck!” Erik yelled.
“Fuck you, you pricks!” Rugrat swiveled and fired on new targets as George appeared above the wall, sending out a beam of flames.
Gilly followed, flapping her wings into a hover as she released a beam of water from her mouth, rubble rose around her, collapsing into spikes that rained upon the attackers.
Erik finished reloading and looked over the wall. Spells rained down on bunkers. A barrier failed, the bunker getting torn apart under the weight of fire.
Artillery cannons tore up mana barriers, peppering those beneath with their explosive payloa
d.
Mana cannons fired off time with one another, tearing up barriers and people as mortar whistles were drowned out in the fighting.
Tracers from machine gun bunkers left lines across mana barriers and cut through enemy fighters as their explosive shot went off.
Enemy fighters charged forward, but it was a fucking meat grinder.
Erik aimed and fired his grenade launcher nearly straight up as he heard the whizz and felt a rush of air as Gilly released her spikes. They hammered barriers, crashed into the ground, and went through fighters, adding to the toll.
“Fuck,” Erik muttered as he ducked and started to reload.
“Reloading!” Rugrat yelled as he ducked, changing out ammunition cans.
More of the close protection details moved from the towers to the wall and into the bunkers to support the frontline forces that were getting hammered.
Erik stood up and fired his grenade launcher again.
Gregor stomped into the tower acting as a command center for the rabble outside.
“This is the commander of the sect forces, Marco Tolentino.” Petros waved to a younger man standing in front of the other sect leaders.
An offering. Gregor snorted at the thought. The sects didn’t seem to change no matter the realm one was in.
Some time had passed since Petros had reported the possible connection between the Sha clan and the fourth realm to Commander Stassov, his investigations had led him to Vuzgal. Petros was confident that Esther had met the city lords of Vuzgal. Considering the mess the United Sect Armies were making of attacking the city, it seemed his suspicions were right. There was far more to Vuzgal than was immediately obvious. At least they’ve softened up the Vuzgalians some.
Gregor knew that there was little sects from the lower realms could do about the Sha firearms.
Marco averted his eyes and bowed deeply. “Lords and ladies, I am honored by your presence, but sad that I greet you in such a situation.”
“This city… Tell me its history before it was taken,” Gregor asked. He could feel the trepidation and confusion in the room.
“The city was abandoned. The dead had claimed it. No one went to the city because the undead were strong enough to hurt most forces and those that had died on the battlefield would turn.”
“Were there powerful dungeons in the past? What kept the undead spell running?” Gregor talked over Marco.
“There was a powerful dungeon, Bala Dungeon. I do not know what was used to power the spell.”
“How long did the undead last for?”
“Centuries.” Marco sounded unsure.
“Did the area that the undead occupied increase?”
“I don’t know.” Marco opened his arms and pressed his lips together.
Gregor looked in the direction of the city.
“Petros, what can you tell me?”
“They have weapons similar to the Sha’s firearms, but they’re different. They don’t have the skill of the Sha gunsmiths, but they make up for it in numbers.”
“You think the two are related?”
“I do,” Petros said.
Gregor chewed on his words for several minutes. “I need to take a closer look.”
“Do you think there is something special about this city?” Marco asked.
“Ready my aerial mount. Do you have a mount, boy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, you will come.”
Gregor left the room not waiting to see if he had caught up. He walked to the peak of the command tower, blasting out a section of the roof and withdrawing his mount, his guards and Petros did the same with Marco quickly behind.
Gregor jumped onto his mount who climbed into the sky with a screech. The others grouped around him before he led them toward the city. He paused to use his interface, and then pushed forward again, his frown deepening.
They got closer to the city and passed over the trenches.
“Tell the clan that I have found a dungeon core of the high earth grade, possibly Sky grade. I believe it might be a hidden Sha location.” Gregor grimaced. They would have to move quickly to break the city and tear out the dungeon core from its heart.
Two guards turned and shot flew toward the main camp.
“Dungeon lords?” Marco asked.
“Dungeon lords,” Gregor confirmed but didn’t expand on it as he looked at the city. “You have brought me a great prize, Marco. My clan will be pleased. Petros, you will be rewarded.”
Petros bowed his head. “Getting back to the seventh realm will be a welcome relief from this sparse mana.”
Gregor smiled and nodded. It is so thin, like watered wine.
“I am honored, Lord Gregor, though I’m not sure how I’ve helped you,” Marco said, bowing atop his mount.
Gregor gave him a hungry smile. “My clan will take this city for ourselves and we will not accept others encroaching upon it. These other sects…” Gregor sneered and waved his hand. “They would have to be one hundred times stronger to think they could take anything from the Black Phoenix Clan.”
“You want to take the city? A city in the Fourth Realm?” Marco asked.
“I do not care for the city, but for what is underneath it.”
“What do you mean?” Marco asked. They were off to the side of the command center.
“I mean that the Black Phoenix Clan has claimed this city. There is nothing we can do!” Marino hissed.
“They’re another sect, right?”
“A sect that controls warships, Marco! Pull back your people into the cities. It is the only thing we can do. Put the blame on the Black Phoenix Clan.”
Marco gritted his teeth. He didn’t like being on the other end of a sect telling him what to do.
“Dammit.” He stared through the windows at Vuzgal beyond.
He had known that there was something special about the city ever since they’d been engaged in the mountains. He had hoped to crack open their secrets and find out just what else they had been hiding and now it was all gone in an instant.
Those in the room looked at him as he breathed out, standing back up and regaining his composure. A good upbringing had its perks.
“Withdraw our forces from the battlefield as quickly as possible and start evacuating. I doubt that the Black Phoenix Clan will care enough to not hurt our people if they get in the way.”
“Look, they’re breaking!” someone called out.
Erik looked over the wall to see the flow of fighters reverse toward the teleportation formations.
They pressed onto the formations and threw down any extra they had.
Everyone kept attacking, harassing them as they sped away. In no time, they seemed to have all disappeared except for the field of dead and the destroyed bunkers.
“Is it just me, or is that fucking weird?” Rugrat said.
“Something strange about it, yeah.”
“You see that group on strong mounts up in the sky? I’ve got a feeling they’re not from around here. Haven’t felt that kind of power before. Lower cultivation, but I’d guess they’re a higher level than us,” Rugrat said.
“Domonos, this is West.”
“Go.”
“We’ve got some people from what might be from the Eighth Realm hanging out in the sky and the sects just retreated. I don’t think we broke them.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking something else is coming. We need to hit those camps as soon as possible. Evacuate the wounded and non-essential down to Alva or the backups.”
“Understood.”
57
In the Clouds
The bridge of the Black Phoenix Clan Eternus shook, the scrying screens showing the outside world.
The skies ahead gathered in a violent sandstorm. The sand would condense, creating boulders the size of a house, a city tower, or a man’s fist, and fall apart just as quickly.
They sparked on the frigate’s barrier as it calmly flew through the elemental storm.
Some of the boulders dropped toward the ground, only to slam into the volcano range below. The sudden introduction of the boulders caused the volcanoes to erupt, lighting up the earth element cloud the color of the dying sun.
Captain Stassov tapped the arm of her command chair, colored by the thin pillar of refined mana. She looked around the command bridge. Cultivators moved between different workstations as they navigated the earth element storm.
Above her, a phoenix of sculpted flame spread its wings. Runes traced down the phoenix, focused on the talons that grasped the dungeon core. Formations were carved into the floor and roof, perfectly framing the phoenix’s outstretched talon.
Through these formations the dungeon core controlled the entire ship.
Stassov rose from her chair, moving toward the command table. It showed an overlay of the Eternus, which was cigar shaped with a flat top and angled sides filled with mana cannons.
The man in dark red-and-black armor turned from the table and bowed.
“Update.” She turned a formation and a map of the area appeared.
“Commander Ranko is in reserve with his air forces. Commander Bela is ready with her ground forces.”
“Seems suitable to use flying ground forces in this place.” Stassov sneered at the screens across the bridge, showing the turmoil of the elemental storm. “Rise, Gregor.” She turned to the mages standing around seer tables to the side. “Have we picked up any signs of other airships?”
“No, Captain.”
Stassov looked back at Gregor. “Dungeon leader.”
He closed his eyes, and she felt the pulse, the gift she had given him.
“I do not detect any other dungeon cores.”
“Good, raise the conversion nodes, and increase speed. Mana stones won’t make themselves.”
The armored plates of the ship opened. Crystal and metal rune-covered pillars pushed skyward, sprouting across the ship and locked into place, turning the ship into a crystal spiked hedgehog. The airship’s speed increased.
“All conversion nodes are extended!”
Power was drawn toward the forward conversion nodes. They began glowing. Flashes of lightning sparked between them as they were activated.
Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8) Page 65
