Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  A couple of cultists pushed in with the undead, aiming at the minions they could see with their staves. The crystals atop the staves pulsed out the beams of energy that the minions had come to know and fear. The original minions of each Summoner dove for the ground, not wanting to be hit, while their duplicates began taking evasive measures.

  Gerald was focused on the battle in front of him, so Alburet began giving orders, “Casters, focus the cultists down first. Stealthers, be ready to do your thing.”

  “Fire is not as effective as it should be,” one of the Elementalists shouted back.

  “Use your secondary element,” Alburet replied.

  “We could help if there was room,” Benedict said from behind Alburet.

  Before Alburet could reply, the intake building exploded. The shockwave knocked all of the Delvers flat and hammered half of Heart’s Light into the ground. Shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears, Alburet looked back to see a major complication.

  “You should probably help Delvers with that,” Alburet shouted, his ears still ringing.

  “I think you’re right,” Benedict said as he started to push through his own Guildmates to get closer to the new threat.

  “More of those Golems?” Marysue asked as she glanced back between healing spells.

  “These are more advanced,” Alburet said, seeing the plate armor the Golems wore. “That’s their fight. We have our own.”

  “How many of these fucking things are there?” someone from Heart’s Light shouted.

  “Stealthers,” Alburet shouted, “turn and help Heart’s Light. You’ll be able to get in on those mobs. Melee without reach, you too. Benedict, we could use some of your casters in return.”

  “Third and fourth tiers,” Benedict called out, “help Alpha Company.”

  Fluff broke away from Alpha Company, Leaping over Alburet to land behind him. “If you need me, call,” she said and waited for Benedict to call out the targets.

  “Delvers,” Blaze shouted, “back up. We’ll link up with Heart’s Light. There are too many for us alone.”

  With the two fronts now engaged, the fight became serious. Both groups knew that if the other side failed, they would be flanked. Alburet Copied Bob again, since both BJ and BB had been dismissed by beams from the cultists. Seeing the other Summoners also doing so, his lips pursed.

  “Summoners, send all Copies over the wall. Aim for the back line of the attackers. If you see a leader, mob him,” Alburet called out.

  A stream of Copied minions went over the wall, none of them making it more than a few yards before they were hit by a mass of beams.

  Alburet nodded, “Casters, area spells just inside the gate and break their formation. Tanks, be ready to push forward. We need to kill the cultists that are trying to keep them up.”

  Seconds ticked by as Alburet gauged how effective the massed area damage was. Teeth gritted, he removed a ring from his hand. “Stacia, we’re going over the wall.”

  Her eyes went to the ring he slipped into his bag. “What be our mission?”

  “Making the cultists focus on something other than healing.” Raising his voice, Alburet called for the Summoners to have their flying minions stage near the walls. A few turned to argue but stopped when they saw him hovering over the Guild. “Have them follow me. Everyone, focus the target I hit first and stay evasive.”

  “Might we be of assistance?” Yuna asked as she glided over to him. “Our fire spells might not do much damage normally, but all of us have Infernal Flames and can summon Imp Storms.”

  Alburet looked at the other Demon Lords, “Okay, but stay on this side of the wall. Poke up, summon, then get down. We’ll need you later.”

  “We would like to assist, as well,” Andrea said, Parsnew just behind her. “We can’t summon a swarm of Cherubim, but we think we can help with a song or two.”

  “I’ll take anything that will help,” Alburet said. Looking down, he saw Marysue looking up at him. “You have command until I get back or until Gerald can see past the mob in front of him.”

  Her smiling demeanor fell away, showing the cold and calculating nature that she hid most of the time. “Very well. Make sure you make this count.”

  Dodging the couple of beams that were fired at him through the gateway as he moved, Alburet floated next to the wall. Waiting for all the minions to indicate they were ready, Alburet looked over to where Fluff and Karen were attacking one of the Plated Death Golems.

  A soft hand touched his, “We be ready, Asthore.”

  Taking a deep breath, Alburet floated higher. “Give me a few, then follow,” he told the minions and Demon Lords.

  Seeing them nod, Alburet shot higher, clearing the wall and finally seeing the force on the other side. Thousands of undead, hundreds of cultists, and dozens of richly clad nobles all looked up at him. A hundred or more Two-souled were mixed into the mob.

  “You killed my family, Skippy, and now it’s time to pay!” Alburet snarled out as he flew over the crowd.

  “Kill him!” Skippy snapped.

  Staves were pointed in his direction, and Alburet did his best to evade the beams that shot up at him. As all eyes had been pulled to him, they missed seeing the minions coming over the wall right away. Catching a glimpse of the other Demon Lords cresting the wall, Alburet threw a single Fire Blast at a cultist that stood next to a half dozen others.

  The sky was suddenly blanketed in Imps as the four Demon Lords all used Imp Storm. The barrage of beams aimed at Alburet came to a sudden stop as the cultists and undead were suddenly engulfed in flames, as every Imp covered the area in Fire Bursts.

  “Healers, keep them alive,” Skippy snarled. “The rest of you, kill him! He’s leading them.”

  Alburet felt his anger surge, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get to Skippy. The anger faded slightly as a song blanketed the area. The duet of Andrea and Parsnew clouded the minds of all the cultists, making them see multiple copies of every foe.

  Seeing all the cultists suddenly lose focus, Alburet gave a feral smile as he dove at the nobles, who also seemed to be having trouble. Skippy staggered back at seeing five Alburets coming for him, yelling at the others to stop him.

  The confusion of the Imp Storms and the songs gave Alburet the room he needed to snatch Skippy up by his clothes from behind. “Let’s go talk,” Alburet hissed as he lifted the flailing noble into the air.

  BJ, BB, Kitten, and KJ all went to his side, grabbing Skippy’s limbs to make it easier for Alburet to ferry off the noble. As they got closer to the wall, a few beams from the cultists hit Kitten, banishing both her and KJ. The shift of weight almost made Alburet drop Skippy, but he maintained his grip as he cleared the wall, dropping behind it just in time to avoid the other beams that would have hit him otherwise.

  “Go help the others,” Alburet told the Copies. “I have a delivery to make.”

  “Got it,” BJ said as he and BB flew back over the wall.

  Stacia flew over to Alburet, her eyes flaming as she stared at Skippy. “We be killin’ him now?”

  “Not yet,” Alburet said. “Follow me.”

  Flying back to the guards, Alburet called down to the group below him. “Sire, I have a gift for you.” With that, he let go of Skippy.

  A cry of fear came from the noble as he felt himself falling. Hitting the ground hard, Skippy groaned as he tried to get to his feet, only to be tackled to the ground by a dozen guards.

  Tyr looked at Skippy, then up at Alburet, “The raid?”

  “Continues, but he was in charge of the nobles,” Alburet said as he landed. “I’ll be going back in just a moment. I don’t know how he was involved in Alistern’s death, but I know he was.”

  “He killed my father as well, and should have been prepared to die,” Mantoya said from nearby as he drew his father’s signature blade from his side.

  “I shall deal with him,” Tyr said. “You should head back to the raid.”

  “Nay. We be havin’ a debt that need
s payin’,” Stacia growled, flames sparking from her eyes.

  “As my wife said, Majesty, we need to see him die,” Alburet said, his hand touching her shoulder. “I ask that you let her deal the blow.”

  Tyr nodded, “Very well, Lord Darkhand, in deference to your aid.” Looking to Mantoya, the King continued, “Strip him of his gear, then bring him to the edge of death.”

  “Wait! I can give you information,” Skippy screamed. “Don’t let it kill me.”

  Tyr smiled coldly, “Ready to turn tail on your supposed leader already? Pathetic. Mantoya, carry out my orders.”

  “No, no, you can’t do this! Justice forgives those who—”

  Mantoya’s hand slammed into Skippy’s throat, making the noble hack, suddenly unable to speak. “Quiet, filth.”

  Minutes passed by as the guards stripped Skippy of his gear and Mantoya cut him in a dozen places. “He is ready,” Mantoya told Stacia as he stepped away.

  Stacia walked up to the bloodied noble, who was still being held by the guards. “Ya have hounded me husband, and killed me friends and me Da’. I would nay be surprised iffin ya killed ya own Da’ to gain ya title. Today, I pay ya back for ya pettiness.” Stepping forward, she embraced Skippy.

  Alburet felt his blood boil seeing his wife hug Skippy. Opening his mouth to object, he stopped when he heard Stacia’s next few words.

  “Now ya will die as all ya victims did,” Stacia said. Flames sprang up from her skin, burning into Skippy where she held him.

  The long silence that Mantoya had inflicted on him ended in that moment, and the anguished screams of a burning man echoed through the still air. The smell of burning flesh made a number of people wrinkle their noses, but the scene of a ferally smiling Succubus holding the man as she killed him made a number of people shudder and look away. Stacia kept hold of Skippy even when he stopped screaming, holding him until the body vanished from her arms.

  Flames winking out, Stacia touched the bag that appeared at her feet. Turning around, she held a ring out to Tyr. “This be for ya,” she said simply, the deep anger and hatred she had been consumed with gone as swiftly as the body.

  “Thank you,” Tyr said, taking the ring.

  “We have a raid to get back to,” Alburet said as he took Stacia’s hand.

  “Indeed,” Tyr agreed. “Next time, feel free to just drop them off. We’ll deal with them.”

  “Of course,” Alburet said as he and Stacia headed back toward the intake wing.

  Chapter Forty-two

  The fights were still raging when Stacia and Alburet returned. Landing next to Marysue, Alburet gave her an apologetic smile, “Sorry about that.”

  Marysue’s mask slipped back into place as she gave him a smile. “It’s fine. Your surprise attack did disrupt their casters long enough for us to push to the gate. We haven’t lost anyone besides the minions yet. The same can’t be said for them,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the twenty Plated Death Golems still remaining. “The rest of Heart’s Light and Delvers’ casters have shifted to helping us stay alive. Their spells don’t touch the Golems.”

  “They’re out of sight from the gate,” Alburet mused. “I’ll get them some more help.”

  “Yuna, Andrea?” Both ladies landed next to him, and he smiled. “Can you send your ground forces to help Heart’s Light and Delvers? It looks like spells don’t affect them, so it has to be melee.”

  “Of course,” Andrea said as she flew off.

  “Gladly; they were getting restless,” Yuna said and followed Andrea.

  “Okay, that should help bolster that front,” Alburet said. “I don’t even want to think of what this would be like without all the natives.”

  “I think it was designed to be done with them, so it would have been bad otherwise.”

  Alburet couldn’t fault her logic. If you had a living world and there was an extinction-level event going on, it makes sense the natives would be there to help. Does that mean the raids that will come after this will have the same epic quality to them? Alburet took to the air high enough to see over the ranks, but not enough to become a prime target for the cultists. He chuckled as he watched the tanks trade places. They shifted to the left, and the tanks who had been in combat moved to the right side of the line, out of the scrum.

  “I see Gerald has the front solidly set in a rotation to help them,” Alburet said. “We still can’t get most of our casters to bear.”

  “Mayhap we can ask the Succubi and Seraphim to lift them up to the wall? It be thick enough for the casters to stand or sit on,” Stacia suggested.

  “Marysue, could you heal them if we did that?”

  “It would put a strain on us if they all went, but if you sent a couple of small groups, we can shift the healers to cover them. Maybe rotate them out when their mana drops so they don’t have to use their potions until later?”

  “Works,” Alburet said, turning back to Stacia. “Will you go let Andrea and Yuna know, dear? I need to see which casters want to chance the wall.”

  “As ya wish, Asthore,” Stacia said as she flew off to tell the others.

  Turning to look at the mass of casters who were all trying to help out, Alburet shook his head. “I need twenty casters who don’t mind dying.” Fifty hands all went up, “Okay, the twenty closest to me: you’ll be the first wave. Cast until you’re out of mana, and then we’ll switch you out for the next set. We’ll try to keep you alive, but it’ll be difficult, so death is likely.”

  The sound of hooves and boots brought everyone’s attention to the Destroyers and Archangels that were marching past them to the Plated Death Golems. The two leading the small army went to Blaze, who was calling out that side of the raid.

  “Here is your help, Lord Darkhand,” Yuna said as she flew up with Andrea and a mixed group of fifty Succubi and Seraphim.

  “I guess we’ll take all fifty,” Alburet chuckled. “Ladies,” he said, looking up at the Angels and Infernals, “pick a caster that has their hand up. Take them to the wall, but try to stay covered as much as possible. Once they are set, come back and wait to see if we need to take more.”

  “We’ll handle it,” Andrea smiled. “Never thought a Demon Lord would be giving me orders, but the mistress is happy and that’s all that matters.”

  “Take them up,” Alburet said.

  The casters all cheered happily as they were picked up and carried off. Alburet watched them go before he took to the air. “Marysue, I’m going to take command of that group. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

  Sighing, Marysue nodded, “Understood. Make sure you bloody them.”

  “I will,” Alburet said as he went after the casters.

  The Seraphim and Succubi waited for him before lifting the casters above the wall. Taking the far end of one of the wall segments, Alburet landed on top and threw a Fire Blast. A number of eyes turned his way, and the cultists that remained all brought their staves up. Giving them a single-finger salute, he stepped backward off the wall just as the raid casters unleashed their first volley of spells into the crowd below them.

  Cultists and the undead spell casters launched their own spells back at them. Letting them go for a moment, Alburet reappeared on the wall. Picking out a small cluster of cultists that were healing, he took aim.

  “Casters, attack my target!” Alburet yelled, waiting to throw his Fire Blast into the group. “Area spells right there, on the five healers all grouped up.”

  Most of the raid casters did as ordered— though there were a few that didn’t listen— and the clustered healers were hit by forty spells simultaneously. A small wave of arrows peppered the same targets from behind Alburet. Looking back, he saw a group of Cherubim dropping back under the level of the wall.

  “Go help the others since you do physical damage. Let Andrea know all of you can chip in over there.”

  “Understood,” one of the Cherubim replied.

  Another explosion rocked the area, making the people up on the walls wobble f
or a moment. Looking back at the melee engagement, Alburet was shocked to see a crater in the ground and bodies scattered in a wide radius away from it.

  “The Golems blow up,” Benedict shouted as he got back on his feet, having been at the edge of the first explosion. “They heal their friends when they do. Tanks, grab your Golem and back them at least thirty feet from each other. Damage until they get critically low and back well off. The tanks can finish them alone if needed.”

  “Benedict,” Alburet said through the Raidstone, “the Cherubim are coming your way to help. They do physical damage. Let them finish the Golems off.”

  “Got it,” Benedict grunted, blocking the next attack from the Plated Death Golem he was facing.