Enough Daniel’s frown deepened If it was enemies at the level that it was threatening Decklan’s squad Wait until the Council gets here then explain
Then Daniel’s gaze turned to Nul What do you know
Just that Donnyton’s tribulation has come and it is strong Nul said simply I would like to remind you that the victory and loss is determined only by two lives my own and the Tribulation Whichever of us survives gains the village Either it continues as a village or
Nul closed his mouth his face taken on that pained expression he had when he said too much Daniel frowned This was new information So what Nul was essentially saying was everyone was essentially expendable but him huh
Well fuck that
Chapter 93
So what’s happening Donny asked scanning around the table his eyes landing on Glendel Only 6 minutes had passed but the ghostly whispers in their ears had drawn the entire council to the main building of the Trainee Village
Except Decklan who from Glendel’s sweaty brow was still encountering quite a bit of trouble
I don’t know how I missed them it’s like they just sprang into existence But all of the sudden the area to the north was filled with monsters From what I can see there are two Tier I Raid Bosses and a Tier II as well It’s like someone was hiding them this entire time
The Tribulation Daniel said his eyes glittering It’s not directly powerful but seems to be skilled at subterfuge It apparently knew enough about us to avoid your ghosts which is disturbing What sort of numbers are we talking
I mean only about half the amount of a normal monster horde but Their levels are all at least 24 Because the Raid Bosses have had time to spawn
Rough sledding Dozer rumbled his face peaceful
And Decklan Donny asked
Still being chased by one of the Raid Boss’ forces But Glendel said but Regina interrupted
Tell him to distract and engage At that level we can’t take them all on at once Better to lure those we can to the village too so we can make use of the Aura of Arbor
No need they will come Nul said Seeking my life Your utmost priority
Defense for now gather ourselves for a strike The mage corps can probably blow a pretty large hole in their lines It’s a bit more awkward without Clarissa but it should still work Sam said rubbing his chin
Regina nodded My thoughts exactly Donny will you take your squad and rendezvous with Decklan Dozer you are on mop duty Take the Numerals with you it’s time to see if all their swagger is worth anything Save your strength as much as possible
Then she turned to Nul Do you know where the tribulation is
He hesitated then shook his head Regina glanced at Glendel who simply shrugged
Sighing Regina said Well then we will hold until we get a lead In the meantime the important targets are the raid bosses They will be coming through the quarry yes
ETA 10 minutes Glendel reported Donny Dozer and Ptolemy got up and left heading to reinforce their lines Glendel closed his eyes commanding his ghosts
Sam glanced grimly at Regina and Mrs Hamilton If we don’t find where it is
Damn its really rough missing both The Ghosthound and Clarissa Their firepower would alleviate a lot of pressure Mrs Hamilton muttered
But what can we do Regina asked her voice frustrated
Actually I have a solution
All four of them looking up to find Lyra followed by 4 limping individuals When they made it into the room the four collapsed
Lyra wiggled her fingers at the group Just buy me some time okay I’ll have everything fixed up in a jiffy
Decklan raced forward his expression locked into a scowl The ambush had been unexpected but nothing they couldn’t handle But then they had harried and disengaged seeking to gain some space and had backed up into another enemy
The first group of monsters were cyclops tall physically powerful beasts who were deadly in close proximity but slow The second group was skeletal horses who had more than enough speed to chase down their group
Luckily they weren’t controlled by one leader so there was some friction between the groups when they encountered one another By sticking in the space between the two groups Decklan and his squad were able to keep enough distance not to get crushed by the cyclops and keep far enough away from open stretches to not get run down by the skeleton horses
And they would have done it perfectly without any casualties if Ivan hadn’t madly tried to finish off a cyclops for the stat gains and hadn’t done enough damage to kill it In a fit of fury the cyclops struck His body was splattered against the cyclop’s skull by a palm a sight Decklan wouldn’t soon forget It was a good if costly reminder that this wasn’t a game
They were running in a long arc meaning to bring them eventually around and towards Donnyton but a strange thing sticking out of the ground caught his attention It pointed Decklan immediately shifted following its direction hand signalling to Terra and the rest of the crew to follow They flowed smoothly behind him nervous but they had their faith in their squad leader
If they hadn’t they would have broken when Ivan died
Their path cut them sideways through a few cyclops but they followed without complaint Daggers and throwing hatchets and other projectile weapons hitting the vulnerable eyes of the nearby enemies Once they got wind of it their eyes snapped shut but it bought them the few seconds the group needed to dash through
Decklan signaled again and the whole group increased in speed rushing towards a copse of trees 400 meters away They would burn through their stamina reserves to get there but if Decklan’s suspicions were correct
As they neared the trees he saw they were thick with low hanging vines He ducked under and led the group in not stopping even as the cyclops chased after them
Decklan if we stay here we are going to get trapped Terra said nervously glancing around Something about these trees Then she froze as the vines moved revealing a suspended floating mass of rot and flesh
Thorn had grown since Decklan had seen it last and grown a lot The mass of flesh was probably just as large as he would be if he curled up into a ball The air below it was thick with thorny vines sinking into the ground and spreading around covering the entire group of trees
Let them come Decklan said turning to the group with a manic glint in his eyes We are going to make our stand here And we are going to bleed every last motherfucker that tries to come for us
As if understanding Decklan’s words the whole copse began to rumble Thorn vibrating in pleasure at the thought
Randidly breathed heavily staggering forward to meet the Yeti Time and time again they had rushed together and crashed against each other Randidly’s Sweep meeting the mighty swing of the Yeti’s ice hammer Randidly had lost out just slightly especially at the beginning but he quickly mastered the art of recovering from that and using Ghastly Slash to inflict debilitating wounds on the Yeti’s shoulders easing some of the burden on himself
Unfortunately the Yeti was intelligent enough to see through Randidly’s plan and had made him pay for it a glancing blow with the shaft of the hammer had cracked a few ribs and the Yeti had taken to swinging great overhand blows that that almost completely killed Randidly’s legs Even now he could barely keep standing
Still to fall meant death With glowing eyes Randidly tightened his grip on his spear and followed it forward meeting the hammer
BooM
The force of the blow reverberated in the clearing It seemed like the monster horde had finally been hunted to extinction and now Franksburg was noticing the battle happening between Randidly and the Yeti However they didn’t dare approach both because of the level and speed of the fighting and due to the notification that warned them about interfering with the Judgement
Which suited Randidly just fine more people would just get in the way
Randidly grinned at the Yeti his smile all teeth To his surprise the Yeti smiled back its eyes still bright with hatred and then said something in a low rumbling tone In a very distantly familiar manner the strange sounds swirled and snapped into focus