Tabitha sighed as the group got sidetracked. “So, what first? The big group, or hunt another Overlord? We have three permanent kills today, and if we had claimed the body, it would have been four.”
Niall shrugged. “It was better to encourage them to leave than to make them fight for the body. Besides, we can get another when we hit a group with only one Overlord.”
Overlord Ahmad nodded in agreement. “We should hit the largest groups in the area first, so they don’t reach the city, then go hunting Overlords. Four on one, they won’t even be able to run away.
Who knows, maybe our young friends here will manage to get an above Rank kill at Monarch. Wouldn’t that be something?”
The others laughed and Karl smiled at the Catman Mage.
“Now, we just need to find a way for you to get one at Overlord and shake the world.” Karl offered.
The mage laughed. “Now you’re pushing it. Totems are just built different. Literally. Their attack power is usually only half again as much as a peak Overlord, but the Totem advancement does something to them, and they take a tiny fraction of damage from anyone who isn’t a Totem. I don’t know what sort of defensive skill they all get, but even the Archbishop has it, so it’s not a warrior type ability. That’s why they’re so important to their nations.”
If you had to go fifty on one with Overlords to take on a Totem, even a healer specialist would be impossible to beat. Perhaps it should be, especially a healer would be impossible to beat.
[Three kilometres north, there is a huge group passing by us soon. Not strong, mostly Dana Mage level.] Hawk updated.
“We have a target. There is a large group passing three kilometres from us. Nobody has intercepted them, so they’ll be headed straight for the city if we don’t.” Karl informed them.
“Alright, we trust your scout. Lead the way.”
Hawk was suspiciously happy, like ‘I just found water magic users to torture’ happy. Normally, he was only bloodthirsty in specific situations, so Karl wasn’t sure why this was different, until they topped a hill, and saw the army arrayed below them.
Mountain Giants, Hill Giants, Frost Giants, Ogres, Ettin, Cyclops and others that Karl had no name for were marching in formation towards the Capital, nearly two thousand strong.
Most were not at Royal Rank. There were hundreds of Ascended and Commander Rank Ogres and Giant subspecies at the back, working in the supply section. The number that were actually at Royal Rank or higher was closer to a quarter of the total.
That should make the start quick and bloody. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
“Where are the leaders?” Niall muttered, not seeing the Overlords that should be with them.
“In the scouting groups all around the army, clearing the way for their advance. Our last fight let them move past us, and now we’re behind their lines.” Karl quietly replied, relaying Hawk’s scouting intelligence.
Lady Othello turned to face them with a questioning look.
“What’s the plan?”
“We fight. The Overlords hold back for now. You can tag team the reinforcements when they try to stop us. Put the bodies in your inventory, or call for one of my beasts to do it. They can’t take them back to resurrect that way.” Karl suggested.
“You’re going to try to solo an army?” Tabitha asked in disbelief.
“I have a team. Besides, look how happy the War God is.”
Tessa was literally glowing red with divine energy, and the army in the valley below them would notice it soon. “I called for reinforcements. If you can hold them here for five minutes, we will have hundreds of Elites and an entire regiment of cleric led infantry on site.” Othello informed them.
Dana rolled her eyes at Karl, then sighed in resignation.
“Don’t worry, Cara will look after you. If anything happened, it would mess up her sleeping arrangement.” Karl joked.
Remi woke up a little from her nap. [Are we fighting again?]
[And it’s a big one. We will need your spells again. But don’t go too hard, they’re going to have clerics trying to Counterspell them.]
Remi came out with her bodyguards, and Karl prepared for the charge.
“For the record, this is a terrible idea.” Overlord Ahmad reminded them.
“Noted. But I’m going to do it anyhow. Remember, don’t get too involved in the battle at the start, you’ll need to be free to deal with the Overlords when they arrive.”
The Catman Mage smiled. “Go, enjoy your personal flavour of crazy.”
Karl started the charge down the hill towards the back of the convoy, where the Commander and low Royal Ranked Giants were pulling the supply carts. Every army moves on its stomach, and while they were only a few hours from the Capital at a Giant’s marching speed, destroying their food and gear would make a siege much more difficult.
Plus, there were other advantages.
[Hawk, Remi. Area suppression, if you would.]
Dozens of [Hellstorm] vortexes spawned in the rear of the army, demolishing wagons and tearing apart the Commander Rank Giants and weaker support team members before they could even understand what was happening.
The Royals fared a bit better, but everyone was so distracted by the attack that they didn’t even notice Karl’s team until Tessa led Thor past him and into their lines with her golden spear levelled.
Thor knocked an entire column to the ground with [Gravity Slam] then trampled them as Tessa spun her spear and slit throats as they passed.
[The Tessa really is one of us when she gets feisty, isn’t sh?] Cara laughed.
Normally, she was on defence with Thor, but a War Cleric in combat was a fearsome sight. Especially when she had a long spear and a Monarch Ranked Cerro mount.
Karl sent his Lamia bodyguards to the right, towards the main force with him, while Remi went left with hers to finish the back of the supply column.
Karl laughed as the Giants hurled stones, ice and spears at him, all of which simply bounced off his barriers, doing too little damage to get past the reduction of [Void Body].
[Skill Master 4 Activation] Skill: Rampage has improved by 1 Tier. New skill [Rampage 2] gained.
[Rampage Tier 2] Every time any enemy is damaged by the Packmaster or a bonded beast, increase the damage done by the Packmaster and all bonded beasts for one minute.
It was a one word change from the original version, but a critical change. Every bit of damage they did would increase everyone’s damage, not just their own.
The damage caused by the Hellstorm Vortexes wasn’t only increasing the damage done by Remi and Hawk anymore, but the entire team.
Karl returned fire, using [Disintegrate] covered [Rend] attacks for area coverage. He was mildly horrified by the way that the first rows of Commander and Royal Rank Giants were simply eviscerated, split in half by the attacks as the damage continued to stack.
Over and over, Karl hurled the flat arcs of power into the Giants, cutting the weaker members down as if he were harvesting wheat.
That was sure to get someone powerful’s attention, and then he could really test the extent of the new [Rampage] upgrade.
In his mind, Rae was laughing hysterically as her legs punched through armour like warm butter. All the blood was hers. She didn’t even particularly want this flavour, and she could have it with just a casual stab. So, instead of keeping them for herself, she started hurling the bodies into the air. The severed limbs detached as they flew, causing the bodies to rain blood over the battlefield as Rae wove her webs and made the killing fields an impossible maze of sticky silk.
This was the single greatest day of her life.