218 Horde (Part 1)
Clay glared at the Deep Stalkers from atop the wall as Noslin sealed the Main Gate. ‘She’ll leave a gap for them to get through so we don’t have to deal with too many climbing the walls. Mikari really is a genius. If we didn’t leave them a way in, they would overrun the walls and be too spread out once they entered the city. It would’ve been difficult to round them up again.’
He could see the concerned looks on the players’ faces as he glanced around him. Many of them came from the old royal faction that had never seen those creatures before. ‘I don’t see the boss.’ Clay’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the shifting creatures. ‘The absence of Nar’Kozz had him concerned.’
“What are they waiting for?” A nearby player whispered as he listened to the screeches of those creatures.
“They’re waiting for a signal,” Clay said, causing the player to glance at him. “You’ll know it when you hear it.”
Minutes passed before the ear-piercing screech of Nar’Kozz filled the air. Clay’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the forest. However, he found no sign of the boss. ‘What’s the damned thing up to?’ Suddenly the Deep Stalkers replied to screech before darting forward.
“Prepare to fire!” Clay bellowed as the players along the wall aimed their weapons and palms toward the incoming tide. Clay watched them carefully, and once they had crossed half of the distance between them, he gripped the wall in front of him. “Fire at will!”
The air above the fields in front of Valheim’s main gate lit up with golden lights and flashes of different elements. Clay glared at the explosions caused by the different effects as they rained down on the Deep Stalkers. Screeches filled the air as many of those creatures were blown apart. However, the lines behind them did not halt and sprinted into that zone of death without hesitation.
Clay’s knuckles turned white as he watched their unrelenting charge. Spells never stopped flying, yet they seemed to have little effect. ‘They’ll reach the walls in a few minutes.’ His expression turned grim as more Deep Stalkers charged out of the forest. ‘How many of them are there?’
The slaughter continued until Clay drew his blade. The first creatures had reached the gate and walls. He frowned as some of the charged through the hole that Noslin had left. However, more Deep Stalkers than they had anticipated leapt at the walls. Their claws dug into the smooth surface as they climbed.
“Prepare for battle!” Clay roared as the sounds of weapons being unsheathed filled the air around him.
Mikari grimaced as he stared at the map while he adjusted the tokens on it. ‘They’re mindless brutes.’ He sighed as more reports were relayed to him. ‘They haven’t taken the bait at all.’ He groaned when he realised only a minimal amount of the Deep Stalkers had charged through the gate into the kill zone.
He drummed his fingers on the table as other players added more tokens to the map. ‘This is worse than all the reports led me to believe. It’s a proper horde. These creatures rely on their numbers, but I’m not sure we can counter it.’ He sighed as he eyed the layout of the streets behind the walls where the enemy had attacked.
“You! Relay this message to the commanders. All Tier 1 players are to hold the walls. Tier 0 players should now move to the streets. Prepare evacuation routes so safely surrender the walls on my command!” .𝘯𝘵
The player that Mikari had spoken to turned pale at that command. He gulped before racing off. ‘Our morale has already taken a hit.’ His eyes darted along the lines on the map before he nodded. ‘We’ll see how things play out for a while longer, then move to the next phase. It’s a lot earlier than I expected.’ A sigh escaped his mouth before he gave another list of commands to another runner.
“Kill them! Don’t lose our path of retreat!” Clay roared as Deep Stalkers pushed the players back and cut them off from the stairs. ‘Shit!’
He slashed at the head of one of the creatures as it peered over the wall in front of him. A glance along the line told him there were many spots where the players were already being overwhelmed. Clay clenched his jaw as he made a decision. ‘Exile didn’t want us to reveal this so soon.’ He sighed as he used his spells.
Four shining blades hovered around his body as he activated more spells to boost his stats. “Get back!”
The players fighting the creatures stared at him with confusion but quickly leapt out of his way as he raced toward them. They panicked and tried to stop him, believing he was launching a suicidal attack. However, as he clashed with the first three beasts on the wall, their jaws dropped open.
The swords seemed to react on their own as they parried the clawed hands. Since the Deep Stalkers had four arms, they usually caught the players off-guard with their extra limbs. However, that advantage disappeared when Clay used his Domain.
The silver blades would often parry two or three attacks in one movement before counter-attacking. The players behind Clay watched in awe as he drove into their lines, leaving devastation behind. By the time he had cleared the path to the stairs, the other players had started attacking the new waves with renewed vigour.
“Sir, how did you do that?” A player asked with awe in his voice.
“Do what?” Clay asked as the swords continued to hack at the beasts still climbing the wall.
“The thing with your spell. I’ve never heard of something that acts like that, so there should be some trick to it.”
Clay glared at the player as he wondered how many others had realised he had not used a simple spell. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Clay grunted before returning to the centre section. The player who had questioned him stared at his back and studied the swords. A glimmer of curiosity appeared in his eyes.
“Guess I’ll have to join Ragnarok.” A wide grin appeared on the player’s face as he turned to help fend off the attack.
Meanwhile, Winter frowned when she noticed the silver swords on the wall. ‘The situation must be dire. I guess we can take that as approval to use what we’ve learned.’ Of course, nobody had mastered the Domain technique. But everyone in Ragnarok knew that Exile and Mikari were the best with it.
Winter knew it pissed Clay off that he did not come in third, no matter how much he had thrown himself into the training. A grin spread on Winter’s face as she wondered which spells to use.
Noslin glanced at her with a concerned expression as she refilled the ice walls where they had become damaged. ‘What’s she planning to do?’ Noslin complained in her mind. She was worried that Winter may unleash something that would ruin her hard work.
Winter raised her hands toward the sky as multiple purple wisps shot from them toward the sky. Noslin frowned as she counted more than ten of them as they began to circle high in the sky. ‘What’s she doing?’ She stared at that scene with confusion. However, Winter brought her hands down, and those spells raced toward the Deep Stalkers in the street.
The members of Ragnarok who had trained with Paul grinned when they saw the purple orbs. Winter had the greatest control over her spells and could use them over larger distances than anyone else in the Pantheon. However, she lacked the finesse that Exile and Mikari had shown. Which was why she ranked third in the Domain technique.
What she had done was the signal that they could use their Domain techniques. Even if they were unpolished, it would still raise their combat potential significantly. Midas shook his head at the sight as he turned to look at the Deep Stalkers that were hit by Winters spells.
Their movements became erratic as more wisps erupted from her body. ‘I guess I should join her.’ He grimaced at the thought of spending gold to activate his spells. However, he would not hold back in that situation. ‘Golden Tide!’
A thousand gold coins erupted from Midas’ hands, and under his domain, he turned them into something resembling a stream. He waved his hands as he directed those coins to smash against the nearest beast. The creature was sent flying by the force of the attack, but Midas was already controlling it to strike at the next one.
Noslin’s eyes went wide when she watched the two. She could not understand what they were doing but she knew something was wrong. ‘Their spells aren’t following a set trajectory. What the fuck is that?’ She wondered if the pair were anomalies. However, that idea was soon shattered. The other officers of Ragnarok soon revealed similar abilities, which caused the Pantheon leaders nearby to pause and study them.
Greed appeared in their eyes when they watched those scenes. However, nobody understood what was going on. Some of them silently made plans to purchase the information regarding that technique from Exile. Even if they knew it would cost them a hefty sum. They simply could not leave that power in the hands of a single Pantheon!
“Noslin!” A player yelled as he climbed onto the roof she stood on. “I have word from HQ.”
She frowned as she listened to the runner. ‘The situation is already getting out of control then.’ She sighed as she turned and barked the orders to the players. She glanced at Ragnarok’s demonstration once again, and a nagging feeling tugged at her mind.
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