Her cheek puffed in thought. “Shield crystals can’t be continuously charged. They have to be charged in one. When they deplete, the generator will be unusable for at least an hour like the Ruby Core.” She took a dramatic breath. “Ya just have to attune to the generating crystal and it’ll let ya pass. Not sure, but the trebuchet and generator can be linked somehow with a skill.”
“Yes,” Zaine said, sighing, “It’s called Crystal Alignment. You need to be at least level 185 in the Gem-Enchanter profession. The dark rubies on the catapults can be linked to the shield generators.” He suddenly scowled. “We’ve been detected. The portals gave us away.”
“Huh?” Gabrielle said, “I don’t sense anything.”
“Neither,” Ambiguous said.
Zaine’s body shimmered and disappeared completely. “It’s a very subtle, wide-area detection ward. You need at least a tier nine detection skill to sense it.”
Rowan examined the icon that’d appeared below his bars at the left.
Stealth, Tier 10
Rowan couldn’t help but ask, “How did you get tier ten stealth? I can't seem to be able to get past tier 0.”
Gabrielle hopped in front of him. “Oh, that’s simple. Ya have to practice using your mana to continuously bend light around your body. Tricky stuff. Easier for those with pure Light mana.”
Rowan’s brows lifted. He hadn’t considered applying real-life science to this medieval fantasy game before. But if a form of magi-tech was possible, then bending light wasn’t a surprise. The bending of light wasn’t even that advanced on a concept, known by humanity since the middle-ages and before. He’d underestimated the game for the umpteenth time. Damn.
“But I was born with a natural ability of tier ten stealth,” Zaine said smugly, “Perk of being a demigod.”
Gabrielle spun around to where his voice emanated. “Nyaa, unfair!”
“Quite,” Ambiguous said.
Zaine spat, “Like the Draconian traits that make you natural Mages. Even I’m not even invulnerable to mana feedback.”
“But tier ten stealth,” Gabrielle said, spreading her arms, “That’s way better than feedback immunity.”
“I agree,” Ambiguous said.
As a tight headache grew, Rowan cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Cut out the bickering.” Intuitively, he focused on Zaine’s party icon and an outline of the boy appeared in the air. He turned to it. “Didn’t you say they detected us? We should get moving. Frontal assault. Deplete that shield before they double back from the mines. No other way.”
“Frontal assault? Do you see how fortified that place is?” Ambiguous said, her tone rising in pitch.
“Yeah,” Gabrielle mumbled.
Zaine’s arm-outline gestured. “What else do you suggest? We have no ships and the Imps need to be in support range. That place is almost an island. Set up an arc and start a siege.”
So naval combat indeed existed in this game. Rowan grew more pleased with Aeon Chronicles by the hour, a satisfied expression tugging at his face. And Zaine was as smart as he acted too. The contract with the demon child was proving its worth in many ways. Too bad he wasted so much time in crucial moments like these. Along with the girls.
Ambiguous pointed at the closest harvesting sapphire. “How about a taking out all these supporting sapphi— Oh, nevermind.”
Yes, idiot, those were needed for the dark humans and the replacement shields after the takeover.
“Hehe.” Gabrielle poked her ribs twice.
“Let’s go!” Rowan barked, “We’ve wasted enough time. The Imps and trebuchets have assembled.” Sometimes he wished he could exert his will over unquestioning slaves. But Draesear’s vision showed him what that empire would exactly look like. He had to grow a tolerance to followers and allies with free will.
“Yes. Let’s.” Zaine waved his hand and the Imps mobilized. His outline disappeared. He’d blinked—to the owls and two Colossus Enforcers. They obeyed his commands and joined the march, the trebuchets moving at a surprising speed.
“Kay,” Gabrielle said and turned to her Worker Dolls. “Come, my pretties!” She activated her shimmering stealth and puffed away—along with every Worker Doll to Rowan’s surprise. They were indeed the will-less slaves they needed to build their empire.
Ambiguous nodded at Rowan. “Good luck. Don’t get caught.” She stealthed and blinked away.
Luck. His streak had been absurd. It had to be ending soon and a twist in his stomach suggested that soon was the next few hours.
Nevertheless, Rowan pulled at his mana reserves and followed.
* * *
The first signs of alarm took an unforeseen form. A nearby harvesting sapphire flashed white-blue and Elementals spawned in bursts of water vapor. They resembled humanoid-like vortexes. Yet another typical design. This would all be changing soon enough.
Rowan blinked out of the way of a boiling jet and Examined the large one.
Great Water Elemental: Level 168
Health: 9,400
Mana: 6,100
Stamina: 5,900
Buffs: Vapor Armor (Buffers against projectiles, bonus to Armor)
He readied a Tainted Ice Blast but Ambiguous beat him to the finish line yet again. She moved in a blur, her shimmering scimitar slashing through each elemental’s core. Clawed Imps joined her a second later. Each elemental died in a showering spray, the big ones in a thick fountain. Rowan couldn’t join the fray without inflicting friendly-fire.
“Well that’s new,” Gabrielle said at his side. She’d blinked with him, still in stealth. How protective. A good support.
Rowan relaxed the grip on his wand. A pack of imps spawn-camped the sapphire as the elementals spawned single-file. “When was the last time you were here?”
“Hmmm… maybe a few years?”
In-game, of course.
Rowan grunted. “We’ll have to leave ten or twenty imps at each crystal.”
“Obviously,” Zaine drawled from his outline, “Keep a couple Stalkers back too, in case.”
Rowan grudgingly let the boy indulge in his arrogance. It would lead to his downfall one day—like when Rowan had been eaten by the mimic. That was a lesson he’d never forget. He tugged on the leashes of a few stalkers and ordered a patrol along the back-lines.
The march continued through dwindling grasslands. The Water Elements increased in numbers but not strength. The Fire Imps weakened while the ambient mana in the air thickened to a wet paste. Rowan and Gabrielle grew in power. She could now activate every aura in her arsenal with only 10% mana reserved. Each imp in range was as tanky and powerful as a Stalker now. “Yeeees! This will be my capital!” she sang, unloading a barrage of Laceration Curses at the elementals’ midsections.
A pack of thirty elementals spawned and Rowan finally joined in. He froze them all with three blasts. They shattered with another. He sneered at the spire. These minions were nothing compared to demons and Undead. “Keep moving,” he said and whipped his minions’ leashes.
The army trampled farmland, watermelons and rice paddies squishing beneath Rowan's’ boots. No big loss. Bigger, better, more advanced farms growing superior crops would be built one day. Rowan blasted a wind-mill and a line of wooden buildings to make way for the Imps. They were a lazy bunch—or at least pretended to be under Rowan’s orders.
They’d cooked up party roles and a basic strategy during the march.
Rowan was left as the raid leader, micromanaging the forces just like the battle against the Colossus’. He didn’t mind. It was an important role. He knew he was lacking in skills and levels and gear. The weak link. He wasn’t pig-headed enough to deny that fact.
Gabrielle was the support, obviously. Ambiguous as an assassin. Not too much thought there.
The demon boy was the de-facto tank, his tier eight world boss bonus granting a massive health and defense bonus—not so much in terms of damage despite being able to almost one-shot Gabrielle without gear. Rowan gifted him the demon mask
from the real-money market. Zaine was somewhat appreciative, saying he owed Rowan one. It was a low-level item.
The Imps would act passive and weak until the time was right. Let the enemy underestimate them—a textbook trap which far too many players fell into including himself. It could lead to an easy victory.
The first opposing player appeared atop city walls as a continuous stream of elementals spawned. The player was the size of an insect at this distance, too far to get off an Examine. He stood on some kind of flying, triangle mount of pure Water mana.
The chatbox vibrated.
Zaine Everlight (Raid Chat): Water Mana Shard. Stolen from the Occult Engineers.
NPCs could join the player chat? That was handy.
Gabby LeMort: That’s me!
Ambiguous Pain: I always thought they were light-aligned artifacts.
Zaine Everlight: Only in appearance. You need dark magic to craft them. Their unlimited mana source is unnatural and tips the makeup of the world towards dark over time.
Interesting, Rowan’s lips curling in thought and admiration. This game was so much more below the surface.
Ambiguous Pain: Wow. I doubt they’d use them if they knew. We should slip a rumor!
Rowan Black: Good idea.
Gabby LeMort: Yup! ^_^ Gimme gimme water mounty!
Before Rowan could comment on her chat-fluff, a wood and marble ballista-like weapon mounted atop a wall-tower flashed blue. A blast of water soared through the sky.
Rowan pinged Zaine and he moved after a heartbeat. The blast vaporized against his invisible flame armor. He took a fraction of a sliver of damage. Less than a tenth of a tenth of a percent.
The player on the Water Shard ducked behind the wall. The city’s shield gleamed and undulated, growing till it encompassed the few buildings outside the gate.
Rowan Black: We should siege-up now. Their reinforcements are arriving if they already have one flying mount here. What’s the range on those trebuchets?
He pinged Gabrielle for an answer.
Gabby LeMort: Should be around three-quarters of a mile.
A thin, blue laser cut through the air and struck the shield. It originated from Ambiguous’ staff.
Ambiguous Pain: We’re at exactly 0.671 miles.
Almost perfect.
Rowan Black: Siege-up, line against the rocky ledges and rivers. Cover behind trees.
Zaine Everlight: Gabby. Shield Generators, please.
It was strange to see a Demon-Knight boss ask politely. But it was a key skill to winning over followers. Rowan just had difficulty wearing his polite masks around his enigmatic Gabrielle. She pierced right through them.
Gabby LeMort: Kay!
The army spread into a wide arc as they piled in from behind, owls and Stalkers distributed evenly. The two Colossus’ remained at Rowan and Gabrielle’s sides—their elite guard. Four groups of Worker dolls moved into place, starting with circular, stone bases as they chanted in their warped, gruff voices.
Zaine blocked blast after blast with impossible speed, protecting the artillery at all costs.
The first trebuchet unpacked. An owl fed it a stream of Fire-Dark mana through a central crystal at the back. Spikes and smaller dark rubies decorated the siege weapon, flaring with black flames as the first mortar launched.
A wave of heat buffered around Rowan’s shield. He pumped additional mana to steady it.
The impact was thunderous. The city’s shield wobbled, fiery ripples testing its strength. Rowan’s pulse bumped up into his skull at the splendid sight. The Demonic Trebuchets far outclassed those puny ballistae.
“It’s finally happening,” Gabrielle breathed.
Indeed it was. “We will have our glorious dark empire, my beautiful Gabrielle.”
She giggled that sweet, sweet mirth.
The warm fuzz enveloped Rowan’s chest. He took her transparent hand and she tensed for two seconds before relaxing. The touch was electric.
Ambiguous chuckled a few meters to the right. "Oh, you two lovebirds."
Zaine Everlight: It’s not taking much damage per shot.
Rowan flicked his gaze back to the city and Examined.
Water Mana Shield: Tier 9
Shield Points: 99,915,350
Fire Resistance: Very High
Other Resistances (Average): High
Armor: Medium-High
Bloody hell.
Before Rowan could think, a loud ping trilled below the party list.
Zaine Everlight suggests you brace yourselves.
Zaine Everlight: I’m going to use an ultimate. Get those shields up or we’ll take heavy splash.
A wave of excited adrenaline coursed through Rowan’s flesh. Now, this will be a magnificent sight to behold.
“Yeeees!” Gabrielle chirped. “It. Is. Happening!”
Chapter 35
Millions!
Ayla Frost (LJ-EN Alliance Chat): THERE ARE MILLIONS OF DEMON IMPS CHARGING AT THE WATER MAGE SPIRE!!! HELP!!!!!
Jonathan’s innards turned to stone as he noticed the all-caps message at the bottom-left of his vision. Ayla was an officer from Enchanters, Dorian’s Mage focused guild.
Lance Rider: What? Millions?
Dorian Ambersworn: Do you see Zaine Everlight? What about LeMort or Rowan Black? Are you sure they’re not illusions?
Leave it to Dorian to ask the needed questions in a time of crisis. Jonathan rarely could. He pulled his Light Shard forward, restarting the search for that dragon who’d challenged him.
Ayla Frost: They’re cutting down all the water elementals we’re summoning. They’re about three miles away at the crops. Black imps with claws and lankier imps that aren’t doing much.
Lance Rider: On our way. Hold on.
Ayla Frost: OMG there’s a guy with them firing gigantic dark ice blasts. He just destroyed ten buildings in seconds! HELP!
Oh no. That sounded like Rowan, freshly power leveled in a world-event dungeon. Ice-Dark.
If Rowan marched among the Imps, then the worst case scenario was true: LeMort and Rowan had allied with a Demon-Knight demigod. And said demigod wasn’t nearly as much of pushover as Dorian and Lily had fooled themselves into thinking. This was a literal billion metric tonnes of Imp-shit. A weight of tremendous despair gripped his shoulders, magnifying the mass of his plate armor by many-fold.
And at the Water Mage Spire of all places. Not the library? Nothing of value was held at the spire. Last time Jonathan bothered to check, there was only a low-security, small vault there. Maybe they needed something which was held in it.
Dorian Ambersworn: OMW. Evacuate the outer buildings and amp up the shield up to max.
Hadrian Miser: We should leave a force at Stonehurst Keep’s construction in case this is a distraction. This could be a distraction.
Ayla Frost: There are two HUGE demons over a hundred feet tall by the guy. They have molten whips.
What the flying hell? Those had to be bosses. How powerful was this Zaine fellow? He had to be S rank at least. Jonathan’s legs cramped.
Ayla Frost: There’s a bunch of bird-like creatures driving some kind of vehicles and dudes with flaming sword-arms. This is NOT a distraction. Everyone, COME!
Was Ayla a designated spokesperson or the only guild member with a voice over there? Guess it didn’t matter either way.
Melody Song: Yeah, we’re all coming. Nothing’s coming out this mine except for fire elementals and we’re five levels deep now. It’s not a distraction.
Lance Rider: Agreed. But we’ll leave a small party at the keep.
Grant BossMan: The Crave’s leaders just logged in. They’re coming.
The Crave was a smaller guild consisting of Rogues, Rangers, Blademasters, and other physical damage classes. Mostly real-life friends making up their leadership. They’d built a respectable city specialized for their classes in the south-west near the Goblins.
Though they weren’t in an official alliance with Light’s Justice and Enchanters, they�
�d always group up during events and raids. They had no other choice; they had few tanks, supports, or casters. The three was like a holy trinity of guilds to an extent.
Ayla Frost: They’re about a mile off now. Don’t even need the telescopes. We’ve got every collector crystal pumping out elementals and I don’t think a single Imp has died.
Good detail. But no red dragons yet.
Hadrian Miser: The guy firing the ice attacks can’t be Zaine. Zaine and LeMort have to be Stealthed. Along with Ambiguous. Rowan’s Stealth skill must still be low.
Aeon Chronicles Online_Book 1_Devil's Deal Page 40
