In the distance, the Overlords watched in horror as Karl’s group went wild through the back ranks of the army.
“You know, if the reinforcements don’t get here soon, he really is going to solo an army.” Overlord Niall noted.
“He’s certainly efficient at removing targets below his rank. But what is up with that spider. That is the most gruesome thing I have ever seen.” Othello agreed.
“What you fail to realize is that she’s not even serious yet. She is a Night Haunter, and I taught her to use [Vibrating Blade].” The Rogue Overlord laughed.
The Paladin frowned. “You’re saying that she could be invisible, incorporeal, and immune to physical damage, but she’s just running around enjoying herself? No wonder the old generations tried to exterminate her species.”
“Oh, you knew about them?” Niall asked, surprised at her recognition.
“History buff, what can I say? But the first Overlord led group of Giants is on the way. We should get going.”
Niall nodded. “I will move us all with [Advanced Shadow Step].”
Below them, Karl had finally reached the first of the Monarch Ranked Giants that had come to intervene. Fully equipped with Shaman barriers, they had charged through the vortexes to reach him. Karl opened his fingers and hurled Disintegrate coated in Nullify at them, shattering barriers and cracking armour with the first strike.
The power of his improved skills was a heady thing, and combined with [Void Body] Karl was beginning to feel like an invincible god of battle.
Then the counterattack hit, and he realized that he might have overestimated his immortality.
Ten [Cleave] attacks from the Monarch Ranked Giants hit him at once, shattering [Eternal Lightning] and carving deep lines in his armour, then the flesh underneath. His body began to rapidly mend itself, but the point was made.
Ten percent of his life reduced from every attack by [Void Body] was no small amount, but all ten of them were at the same Rank as he was, and Cleave was a slow casting, high damage skill.
Karl charged into their ranks as he reactivated [Eternal Lightning], getting too close for them all to attack at once.
Three Frost Giants fell in the first ten seconds, hacked apart with [Ghostfire] laced attacks that targeted their weakness to heat. But the Mountain Giants had Cyclops forged armour, and they were smart enough not to fall for simple tricks.
Karl spun and parried for a few seconds before the Bodyguards made it to him. The Lamia pair sliced into the Giants with [Rend], allowing Karl to break free of their attacks and target one to take down.
[There is a cap on the stacked damage. It’s not growing anymore.] Hawk complained.
[It says one minute.] Karl reminded him.
[Not the whole minute. It stopped before that.] Hawk amended.
So, there was some hidden soft cap to keep him from using an army of small creatures to stack millions of miniscule attacks for the skill effect.
[Well, now we know how strong we can be. Is it enough?] Karl asked as he defended the Lamia pair, allowing them to land constant attacks.
[It should be.]
Karl threw up an [Earth Barrier] between himself and the rest of the battle, and realized the weakness in his new skill.
Rampage only increased damage, not overall power. His defensive skills weren’t getting any better with time, only his offensive. So, in a way, he was becoming a glass cannon.
Assuming that he was fighting something of similar skill, that was. These Monarch Ranked Giants were good, but nowhere near his increased speed, even if they were nearly equal to him in strength.
The stone barrier came down only seconds later, hacked apart by the earth magic of the Hill Giants, who were trying to pelt him and the Lamia with magical stones. The size that they could throw without risking hitting the Giants he was in combat with was not large enough to make it past [Void Body], so Karl wasn’t too concerned.
However, the constant pelting made it hard to keep his balance, so he had to split his attention to avoid the majority of them.
Progress was down to a crawl for the moment, but the fight behind Karl was close to over, and then Remi and Hawk would be able to focus their attacks on the main force of the army.
Behind Karl, Niall popped in and dropped three Overlord Rank Giant bodies, then vanished again, going back to his team.
Karl tossed the bodies in Rae’s space, knowing that the Giants would be hurting badly after that day’s fighting.
[Overlords are here for Lotus. The Cat Overlord died.] Thor updated him.
[How did that happen? Did they get there fast enough?] Karl replied, trying not to get too distracted from the fight.
[Fast enough. He’s standing again, but Lotus is tired. Tessa is tying her to my back.]
Well, that was a start. At least they had managed to save their fallen Overlord, while collecting three more from the Giants.
By Hawk’s early scouting reports, that meant there was only one more Giant Overlord nearby, so the strike team could afford a moment to rest and recover.
[The other weak groups are coming this way. Rae, can you warn the Tessa?]
[On it.]
That was another two hundred Giants, by Karl’s estimate of Hawk’s reports. They were going to need reinforcements of their own soon because the number of Hellstorm Vortexes was falling, and there were still enough Giant Shamans that they were only up for five or ten seconds each, before being dispelled.
Even [Eternal Lightning] couldn’t refresh energy fast enough to keep up a full assault, and as a result, the stacked damage would soon start falling when the total fell below the cap.
Karl was sent flying by a strike to his side that shattered ribs as it cut through his armour, and then the Lamia were in trouble. They were frantically parrying the Giants’ attacks, but they were more of a caster type than melee combatants, and they didn’t have the brute strength of the Naga Warriors.
Karl focused on refreshing his armour spell and waited a few seconds for his regeneration to heal his ribs, then called a fresh pair of bodyguards beside him, giving up some ground, but gaining time to recover some energy.
[How long has it been?] Karl asked, trying to time the arrival of the reinforcements.
[Ten minutes.] Remi replied grimly. She had also been keeping time, and the reinforcements were well overdue. Or not coming at all, depending on whether any of the Giants’ forces had reached the Capital’s security zone.