We passed the critical spot, and I felt a familiar power surge of a barrier right ahead of me. The moment I passed, a wave of nausea struck me. From incredible heat and dry air, we entered a marsh-like zone with insane humidity. I could almost see the droplets of water float in the air as I stared ahead of me, but I didn’t stop. I kept pressing the group, at least until we were suddenly ambushed by a swarm of insects. Large beetle-like creatures, mosquitoes, worms with lamprey-like teeth, and some other things I didn’t recognize.
The orcs jumped ahead and laid into the bugs. Their numbers were great, but the orcs outnumbered them easily five to one.
“Do you like this? Being a chieftain?”
I nodded subconsciously. “Sure do. I could really ramp up production like this and outfit the orcs, the people from Sylmar, and Farz alike.”
“You could. But remember, we’re not mindless monsters like those things we kill,” Grawl said calmly. “We’re just like you. We need food, water, meat, a place to live, and a partner to breed with.”
“I know. But there are so many things we could offer in return. Food, clothing, furniture, necessities, even building materials to make homes out of. Trust me, it wouldn’t be for nothing.”
“Food. I like that. I liked the drink and the small brown sweet things.”
“Chocolates? I have a whole factory dedicated to pleasing my partners and my… umm… cravings.”
“I’m sure we can agree on some terms, then.” Grawl laughed. “I like that. Chocolate. It tasted good.”
I couldn’t help but grin at the taller and broader orc. We looked like father and child in comparison to our body sizes, so we were a comical sight, I guessed.
“Ahh, they’re done,” I noted when the last mosquito dropped, shredded in half. “And I’d be willing to teach you how to progress with the power I call Enma. What do you think?”
“As I said, we can probably come to some terms, human Viktor, but that’s for another time. Isn’t it?”
I nodded and pushed the thoughts aside. It indeed was for another time, as today we’d rid the world of scum. I looked down at the map and made a snap decision. Instead of moving straight toward the Green Dragon Gang’s base, we’d make a slight detour and enter from the side.
“Kasper?”
“I’m here!” he yelled from somewhere behind us. Several orcs were busy keeping him “safe” was all I could think of when I saw them form a wall around the smaller man.
“Let him through,” I said and stared at the orcs. The two at the front stepped aside and let Kasper out of their box. He scurried over toward me while glancing over his shoulder, to see if they were following him, probably.
“Yes? What do you need?” he asked hurriedly, trying to sound calm, but the high pitch in his voice betrayed him.
“I need you to tell me the layout of the three adjacent zones before we make a move. And don’t leave anything out, or you’ll join those insects.”
Chapter Thirty-One
We stood on top of a hill to the base’s right. The base itself was shielded from all sides, just like mine was, and I had no idea how to confirm Kasper’s word. The three zones adjacent to the base, however, I could see them clearly. Hundreds of men and women were busy cutting down trees. Others were busy hunting and butchering the monsters. All of them looked rather weak, the monsters and the people alike. All but several smaller groups that kept roaming in between the workers.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” I muttered when I saw a familiar face. It was good old Anton and his bald face. I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted to. He stood amidst a larger group of greenies. All of them wore green outfits of a sort, intermixed with armor made from the monsters they must have hunted.
“What is it?” Grawl asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no. Everything’s great, in fact. I just saw a familiar face that I’ve longed to get my hands on for a while now.”
“What do you want us to do to him?”
“You? Nothing. My mate? Everything.”
He grinned and nodded while touching the tips of his tusks. “Can I watch?”
I raised my eyebrow at that and snorted. “You want to watch my wife kill him?”
“Why not?” He shrugged. “Revenge is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”
“The most beautiful after love, Chieftain. I have no idea how your society works, but there’s this thing called love that we humans… appreciate and are both afraid of. It can lead to the best and worst kinds of scenarios you can possibly imagine.”
“Emotions? We rarely show emotions, human Viktor. Emotions make you weak, not strong.”
“I don’t know about that,” I replied. “Love made me strong. It made me want to become stronger so I could protect her. My friends. My people. My home.”
Grawl raised his hand and then pointed at the base. “Can we do this after we’re done? My orcs want to… love your enemies.”
“Love?” I chuckled.
“Yes. We love in a very special way. Let us show you.”
I snorted and shook my head as I tried to imagine orcs loving humans. It was something I should have avoided, as it was now stuck in my mind.
“Yeah, sure. The moment I hit the central zone, you will follow me and do as I said.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing how strong they are,” Grawl replied and pointed at Anton. “If they’re your enemies, they must be strong, right?”
“No, not really, but that’s a different story.” I took in a deep breath and stretched as usual before battle, pulled out my halberd, and stormed down the slope. I knew people would see me coming, but I didn’t care. I guessed that I would need about twenty seconds to reach my target, and it wasn’t like they could do anything in less than half a minute.
I passed into the first zone before I even had the chance to take everything in, and moved toward the middle zone. Dozens of workers and several guards, at least that was what I assumed they were, shot me funny glances, and some of them even yelled after me, but I was too fast for any of them. Ten seconds later, I passed into the central zone, but by then some of the greenies had realized that something wasn’t as it should be. Anton included. But again, I was way too fast for any of them. The moment he saw it was me, though, was priceless. I stopped right at the narrow border where the base was connected to the middle zone, and set up both towers at their maximum distance.
Several greenies charged me, thinking I was fooling around or something, so I showed them just how serious I was. The lightning tower had the longer range, so it shot out first, shredding through four of the approaching men, the lightning bolt traveling between the poor SOBs and killing them instantly. The fifth target was less lucky when a fireball slammed into him, immolating his body. He burned and screamed, but died several seconds later.
“Anton!” I yelled. “How about we continue where we left off last time?”
His eyes went wide as if finally understanding what was going on. Not that it mattered, as no one else was approaching anymore. Not after the towers had killed five of their “soldiers” just like that. As if that wasn’t enough, the orcs finally started appearing from the same direction I had come from.
The looks on their faces as several thousand orcs came marching in were pure terror. What’s even more, they seemed to understand that they had something to do with me. If I, only one of them, was already so strong, just how strong would an army of orcs be?
“Anton! I promise not to kill you outright if you sit with me to have a nice chat!”
“Fuck you, Viktor! I’ll never sit with you! You’re scum!”
Grawl raised his staff as if to send a beam of Bura Anton’s way, but I stopped him as I put my hand on his. I shook my head as our eyes met.
“No, he can’t die just like that.
“Have the orcs kill anyone who resists and carries their mark. Everyone but him.” I raised my hand and pointed at Anton, who seemed to have lost it. He wanted to speak, but he couldn’t. He was frozen
in fear as the wave of orcs charged right toward them. The towers suddenly started firing but not toward the front, no, toward the back as several—I had no idea what they were since they exploded from being so close to the towers.
All hell broke loose as the orcs swarmed over the human defenders. I just stood there and stared at Anton, who was trying to get through the orcs, but they were proving too much for his men to handle.
Explosions rang out all across the field, and orcs were dying in equal numbers as the human defenders. Grenades and improvised explosions struck the attackers and ripped right into them.
“How many so far?” I asked as Grawl winced.
He growled low and turned his head to face me. “Not many. About fifty. Sixty now.”
“Have them use skills. Don’t sacrifice them uselessly, and if they see a bomb, have them jump on top of it. They’ll die, but their bodies will shield the others from the blasts and shrapnel.”
Grawl didn’t say anything, but there was a shift in the way they fought. Orcs penetrated the enemy defenses, using area-of-effect skills, and absorbed the blasts. It proved to be more effective than either of us thought, as barely a minute later, most of the humans lay dead.
“Ninety-seven dead,” Grawl said proudly. “We killed over four hundred.”
It was so anticlimactic that I felt bad for them. Mostly for the score of survivors. This wasn’t a battle, this was a massacre, and if they hadn’t been using bombs, then barely any orc would have died. It got me thinking. If Grawl became one day unhappy about his situation, then things might get out of hand.
“Have ten orcs keep that bald guy,” I said, pointing at Anton, “alive and safe. He’ll be killed by my wife.”
Anton was about to snap something my way, I could see it, but an orc backhanded him. He dropped to his knees, gasping for air. I turned back to Grawl and thought about how to start the next stage of our attack. The first one never should have been problematic. Even if I alone had attacked them, it wouldn’t have been a big problem for me, but the base zone—yeah, that one was a bit different.
“Speak, Viktor human. I know that you’re lost in thought and have something to tell us.”
I nodded but was trying to think about how to broach the subject. He would have to sacrifice part of his tribe, if not most, so we could overrun the base. Power over life and death was… a big one, and when you had that kind of power, anyone with zero conscience would use it. Especially if their lives were threatened.
“I don’t know how many we will lose,” I finally said, gathering my thoughts. “I will go in along with them, so if he strikes me down, make sure you finish this battle and take the zone, alright?”
“What do you mean, if he strikes you down? You are strong!” Grawl demanded. “You beat a chieftain!”
“Make sure you stay behind. Let me go in with the army and try to take care of the enemy. If we both survive, I will invite you to my home, where we will eat and drink all day.”
That got his attention.
“Will there be… chocolate?”
I snorted and nodded. “Yes, more than enough, Grawl. More than you can imagine.”
He offered me his hand, and I was about to grab it, but his hand wrapped so far it went all the way to my elbow. He squeezed just hard enough to apply pressure and leaned in close.
“I want to fight you when you get stronger, Viktor human. Don’t die.”
“Likewise, Grawl. Likewise.”
I let go of his hand and turned toward the zone. Both of my towers had disappeared, as I’d unsummoned them, and then I cursed myself. I wouldn’t be able to put them up for a little under an hour. Now that had been very stupid. Still, there was no use crying over spilled milk.
“Orcs of Sylmar!” Grawl roared. Now that was an interesting touch, I thought to myself. “Protect my brother with your lives and take over this new place, for this is our new home!”
The orcs roared in unison and lifted their weapons. It was a welcome change, as I’d almost come to think of them as robots or monsters that blindly followed orders. They did, but they could still feel and understand.
I put my hand up, halberd raised high, and roared as loud as I could, “For your new home!”
Before I could see the result of my war cry, I turned my back to them and ran inside. The familiar feeling of passing through zones struck me, and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed when I got out on the other side. I didn’t stop; I kept charging as thousands of orcs charged after me.
The base looked like a proper village of old. Dozens of small houses, buildings, and even a small market off to the side had been erected, but it all looked run-down. It was a gloomy, dark place without color and life.
Gang members milled around; some were working on their homes while others were scuffling around. Only went to show how things went to shit if there was no real leadership. Gangs only went so far.
“Kill everyone with a green marker!” I yelled as the first several rows of orcs popped up behind me.
I lunged at the nearest gang member. My halberd passed through what little shield he had and then through his body. There had been barely any resistance, which put me off balance, and I almost stumbled over my feet, but the building caught and steadied me. Orcs rushed ahead and stormed toward the far end from all sides.
Bombs went off, and orcs cried out, dying on all sides. They must have set up traps just in case, but that was one paranoid bastard. No wonder he was able to keep everyone in check.
I pushed off again and jumped atop the building beside me and studied the terrain for a brief instant. Buildings were spread everywhere, with a single larger one at the edge of the zone. It was a shitty-looking imitation of a tavern on two floors, and it was very obvious that it belonged to their leader, Enzo. Even more so when dozens of highly armed and armored men and women rushed out.
Arrows flew, skills activated, and bombs detonated. Orcs dropped by the dozen. A floating orb appeared overhead, releasing beams of energy. Luckily there wasn’t any rapid fire. A beam only appeared every few seconds.
I stared at the man who walked out onto the balcony. Three half-naked women followed out after him. All three of them brandished bows, but not him. He had a lance in one hand and a shield in the other. Interesting way of doing things, with him being “the man” who attracted the monsters, and the girls with the bows killing them off from a distance. It surely was effective.
“Enzo!” I yelled. “Stop killing my orcs, and I can promise you a swift death!”
“Who the hell are you? Damn idiot! How the hell can you ask me to die without a good reason?” One of the beams passed right by me but then strafed across my side.
Damage Notification:
You have received 5,000 damage from Enzo
“You piece of shit!” I cursed and switched to my bow. I nocked a rank six arrow, not wanting to risk it, and shot the woman on his right. The arrow struck her right in the chest, passing through the armor and her body. She was blown off her feet by the sheer power behind the attack and struck the far wall behind her, already dead.
Enzo’s head snapped around, and he stared for several long seconds, just long enough for another beam to come my way, but one of the orange orcs threw himself in its way, dying as he fell on the roof.
I nocked a second arrow, pulled it back, and released it. The projectile flew straight, almost perfectly so, and slammed into the woman on her left. I felt bad for doing it, but I was being hit by insanely strong beams of energy, so if I didn’t take this seriously, I wouldn’t survive to see Melina again.
Enzo screamed and turned back to stare at me, murder written across his face. “A thousand crystals to whoever brings me his head!”
A ten-foot arrow appeared above my head, purple and glowing. It pointed down and at my face.
Now, I would be lying if I said anything but the truth. Several hundred gang members appeared out of nowhere, and two large groups, probably a thousand strong each, appeared on our flanks. H
undreds of projectiles flew right at me, slamming into my shield or missing me narrowly.
I dropped from the rooftop and growled as I saw my shield had dropped to a third. A throng of gangsters came at me as another beam sliced through what remained of my shield and took out over a thousand points of life. I gasped and stared at the incoming enemies, reading my notices.
Damage Notification:
You have used << SHOCKWAVE >>
You have used 50 Enma.
You have inflicted 10,148 damage to ???
You have inflicted 9,987 damage to ???
You have inflicted…
My shield was fully repaired with a single attack, but not my health points. Even worse, they were steadily dropping. Anywhere between twenty and thirty points per second.
“Shit,” I cursed, finally remembering Melina wasn’t around and that I had no way to cleanse whatever the debuff was.
Grawl probably could do it as well, but he’d stay behind as we’d agreed on. “I’ll take everything you hold dear, Enzo!” I yelled as I climbed another roof. I was now over twenty yards closer and had an even better view. He was fuming but standing there alone. The third woman was gone from sight.
I felt like shit, but it was his fault for being an asshole. And now I was one as well, a murderer of women and the owner of a massive purple arrow above my head. One that showed where I was no matter where I went. At least until Enzo died, I guessed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Everything had gone to shit from there on out. I had expected things to go to shit, but not on this scale. It was a mass skirmish where I was lucky that the two sides were different races and that the orcs knew who to attack.
I swept through the throng, killing with a single blow. I didn’t even need to use skills, as they were far from strong enough to survive a single blow, but there were just so many of them that the constant attacks started draining my shield. Sure, I regenerated it, but my health kept dropping and was now down to just over 80%.
Crossroads: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 3) Page 24
