One Royal Rank Cyclops was far from their only issue for the night, and there were more of the giants headed towards them everywhere that Karl looked. It was almost as if their location were a beacon to the attackers, and they were determined that they would take out the threat which had stopped the last wave so effectively.
With dual blades, the Lamia Bodyguards made great partners. They had [Flaming Body] to enhance their weapons, and [Rend] for ranged attacks, so they could just follow Karl’s lead as he turned to meet the strongest opponents that he could find. [I think that there are more Monarchs on their way to us right now than there were in the entire spawn last time. That doesn’t seem right. The monsters show up in different spots, but the spawn is usually the exact same group every time that it activates.
That’s how it was when we fought it at home.] Hawk noted.
[Is it possible that there are more powerful ones still hiding from last night, or that they were at the Fortress, and they got eliminated before we could scout them?] Karl suggested.
[Possible. But they’re all coming for us today. Also, tree lady doesn’t have to fight, she just needs someone in front of her.]
Karl turned back to see what he was talking about, only to find that Leafa’s primary method of attack was to suck the life out of a target directly. It took about five seconds, but she could do it from at least twenty metres away, and the Royal Rank boar that the farmers were fighting simply crumbled to dust after.
That power was a nasty one, and it appeared that there was no easy defence against it except a full barrier. But she was an Overlord, and her power would tear through even Thor’s mighty barriers in the first few seconds.
Only the fact that it took time to build up the effect prevented her species from being declared a menace to society. Unless they were known for their friendly demeanour or something similar.
Karl spotted another Monarch Rank Cyclops, and turned to engage it, but Remi was faster.
She was headed that way with her third bodyguard, the one she reserved for her personal protection, and Cara was flying overhead.
That left Rae and her Golems working with Hawk, and the two groups were circling the farm in opposite directions. After an hour or so, they should have finished a full sweep, and the farm would have a breather, like they had the evening before. Karl knew that it was a tried and true plan, used by fortresses everywhere, even if he had only studied base defence strategies for a few weeks while they were on the Hill Giant front.
[Hold up a minute, boss. I think that I have an idea.] Remi insisted.
[Alright, let’s see what you have in mind.]
Remi started to charge a spell, while Cara dodged in front of her and spread her wings wide, as if she was aiming to stall her forward motion.
Then the badger tucked into a ball, holding a steel farm tool, and [Chain Lightning] hit her in the backside, propelling the ball of fur and steel into the Monarch Rank Cyclops at Mach Void Badger. The thunder of the spell was nothing compared to the sound of Cara hitting the Cyclops’ armour after her [Disintegration] wall broke, and then she was in attack mode, all claws and teeth as she tore the hapless and winded creature to bits.
[At Commander Rank, Chain Lightning does less than ten percent of my health.] Cara announced proudly.
Thor snorted in mental amusement. [You’re both idiots, and that broke Cara’s Eternal Lightning barrier, so be careful. But I’m happy if you’re happy.]
[Oh, there are more. Do you think that we made someone mad last night?] Cara asked as she flapped her wings to gain altitude and pick another target.
Karl turned to face one of the new arrivals, and gave his team a warning.
[Don’t get too far from the farm. We don’t want anyone sneaking past us while we’re busy. There isn’t a defensive force on our side other than the pair of Minotaurs who are watching the kids.]
[Stampede!] Cara warned as she sent an image of what she was seeing to Karl.
Her night vision was strange, grey scale, but extremely clear where something was moving.
What she saw was hundreds of boars herded by a group of Royal Rank Cyclops to charge directly down the road in their direction. There was no way that would miss the farm, but there were Monarch Rank threats on both sides that shouldn’t be allowed to reach the yard, either.
[You guys keep fighting. I will stall the stampede. Advance apologies for the wasted meat.]
Cara giggled. [Even Hawk is running out of space for more boars. I don’t think anyone will mind.]
Karl smiled at the thought his gluttonous bird could ever have enough of a food stockpile, The majority of the boars were on the weak side of Commander, so they shouldn’t be too hard to take out, but there were simply so many of them that trying to keep them from running around him would be a nightmare.
[Hellstorm] vortexes spread across the battlefield as Karl used the flaming tornadoes to herd the Giant Boars down the road, keeping them from scattering. Six, then eight, and finally ten were active at the same time, and Karl began to pant with the effort of keeping all those Royal Rank skills active at once. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“Bodyguards, forward. Hold the line while the smaller vortexes stop the stampede.” He instructed as he took a knee.
That way, even if the exertion was too much, he would only fall a little, and not all the way down.
Within seconds, there were over a hundred smaller vortexes active and Karl was sitting to meditate in the pasture. That was the only way to keep his mana level high enough to keep the spells active until the fight ended.
The battlefield glowed like a forest fire, and the wind howled with the conflicting air currents from so many vortexes in one spot.
Thunder rumbled as the vortexes merged and split every time a target died, and two serpentine forms danced through the flames, slitting the throats of panicked beasts who saw no way out of the fire.
Most animals were instinctively afraid of fire, and being surrounded by it with the smell of burning flesh was a living hell for the boars, but it was impossible to find a way out. Everywhere they turned, vortexes would appear, herding them to the centre of the road.
But the Cyclops team was smarter. While Karl and the Bodyguards were distracted with the boars, they had escaped the chaos and were moving around to the side of the house, where Cara and Remi were already fighting a Monarch Ranked Cyclops.
[You can drop the vortexes now. There are not many.] One of the Lamia bodyguards Karl had summoned informed him.
The light faded as Karl released the spell, and then he caught the panic of Remi as she was ambushed by a whole group of Royal Rank Cyclops.
[Go to her.] Karl ordered, then dismissed the Lamia bodyguards to summon them next to the Naga Queen.
He was already exhausted fifteen minutes into the fight, but the Bodyguards didn’t require any ongoing effort to keep active. So, all that he had to do was handle a dozen scorched and panicked Commander Rank boars.
That should be possible.