There's most likely going to be something equal to a genre shift after this arc ends because Garnet will no longer be sticking around Antium. She's going to travel north to Anzio, then East towards Constantinople and we're going to see more about how Anzio functions and other things like small villages and even villages controlled by mercenaries/bandits. That's the plan anyways. One more chapter for Riley's explanation of the true nature of the Invasions will occur after this chapter and bring the major arc revolving around Antium to a close.
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Quest: The First Wave (01:08:42)
Defend Antium from the first wave of the Invasion.
Reward: Experience, Fame
It was almost time for the Invasion. They had just a little hour left. Up in the sky, the red moon was almost entirely peeled away, revealing a red hole in the sky. On the other side, was something that resembled an eye. It was definitely a strange and sight.
The entire army raised by Antium stood in front of the East Gate and they stared down the red hole in the sky. Some of the soldiers were nervous, but in front of them were some of the nobles of Antium, leading the charge. With them were Garnet's summons. Their presence alone made some of the soldiers worried because they were not human after all. Anna, Klarth, and Kirk led the main defense behind the East Gate just in case the enemies did somehow manage to defeat their army and break through the East Gate. Between them were the King, Queen, and Wizard, who overlooked everyone.
One of the scariest things was not knowing they were up against. In a normal war, people stared down their enemies and could see what was coming. An Invasion was different. You never knew who the enemy was until they appeared, the result was often shock, which led to the troops being demoralized and often scattered.
In the corner of her eye, Garnet saw numerous buffs. It looked like there was one for the King, one for the Queen, one for the Wizard, one for each Duke, and one for the Hero. In total, eight buffs that vastly increased their stats and abilities. Garnet was the only one who could notice this difference, the others could not. Garnet could see that her health was increased at least ten fold. If the effect was the same for the soldiers, then each soldier was probably equal to at least a level 100 soldier. The question was whether or not this was enough though. Garnet had never seen an Invasion herself, so she did not know.
"Just over an hour left," said Garnet. She could feel the fear in the atmosphere. Most of the others had experienced an Invasion before. The last one nearly destroyed Antium.
"Can you not summon the same beast from before?" Charles asked Zedd.
"I cannot," said Zedd. He had tried, but for some reason, the powerful summons were not responding. "Which is why I prepared the Sword of Elements as an alternative."
Zedd had arranged a huge magic circle to be constructed using the walls of Antium as the circle and the castle balcony as the center. If it came down to it, the entire city would be used as a giant magic circle to amplify Zedd and Garnet so that they can use their most powerful spell. The only problem was that they could probably only use it once and it would have to be to take down the final enemy of the Invasion.
"How much time left?" Zedd asked.
Quest: The First Invasion (00:01:22)
Defend Antium from the first wave of the Invasion.
Reward: Experience, Fame
"Less than two minutes," said Garnet as she checked the time.
Garnet, Charles, and Zedd all looked into the sky. The red star that resembled a moon had turned bright red.
Quest: The First Invasion (00:00:00)
Defend Antium from the first wave of the Invasion.
Reward: Experience, Fame
ROAR. "It's here!" said Zedd. "Quickly, find out what type of Invasion it is!"
Garnet saw a brown and yellow eye look through the portal. It looked straight at Garnet almost as if it recognized her. It then turned to scan the entire region, looking at the ground and the castle walls.
Numerous balls of fire began to rain down from the portal. The eye continued to look, observing the entire battlefield from above. CRASH. The ground shook as each ball of fire landed onto the ground in front of them. In all, there were probably a hundred or so.
"The first wave is the scouting wave," Zedd announced. "They are mainly there to see how strong we are. Slowly advance and pick them off."
"I'm off," said Riley who was able to communicate with Garnet. She led Garnet's summons against some of them.
ROAR. As each of the balls of fire cleared up, a monster was in its place. They were black, red, and green colored dogs. "Black, red, and green colored dogs," said Garnet.
Name: Hell Hound
Level: 50
Class: Invader
Sub-Class: Wild Beast
Stats: High Agility, High Strength
It was the highest level enemy that Garnet had seen so far. Only people like the nobles had a level like that. The average level of the soldiers were much lower, but with the buffs of the leaders, it was possible to beat them as each soldier was several times stronger than normal with the presence of their leaders.
Riley and her team faced off against the first Hell Hound. GRR. The Hell Hound saw them as enemies. It charged at Riley. CLANG. Romulus intercepted the attack with his shield. "Hurry and kill it," said Romulus.
Sylvia swung her scythe at it and cut its head right off. "One down," she said.
"This isn't so tough," said Riley. Her group moved to the next one to continue picking them off.
Level Up: Skeletal Hounds (Level 5)
Level Up: Skeletons (Level 2)
Level Up: Skeletal Knight (Level 2)
Even if Garnet was not getting any stronger, her summons were. With the buff provided by everyone, even her weak skeletons that were supposed to be weak were extremely powerful.
"It's a Wild Beast Invasion!" Zedd announced. "All forces prepare for anti-beast combat!"
Garnet watched as the front line soldiers swapped from swords and shields to shields and spears. They stood back and did not advance yet. They were waiting for Zedd's orders.
Zedd was watching the sky and looking at the balls of fire that continued to rain down. He was waiting for something. The balls of fire suddenly stopped raining down.
"Advance!" Zedd ordered.
The soldiers armed with the spears and shields began to walk forward in a line. They spread outwards from the East Gate and began to pick off the Hell Hounds one by one. They were no match for the soldiers of Antium.
"Is that it?" asked Garnet.
"No," said Zedd. "Even though it is the first wave, there are multiple stages. They usually start with the scouts, then come the fighters, and then the siegers. They finally end by sending in their own equivalent of a leader. Only then is one wave complete."
There were possibly three more groups of enemies in the first one. The eye in the sky was observing the whole time, gauging their their strength.
"Once you have eliminated the last monster, return to your positions!" Zedd ordered.
The first wave was relatively weak. Only a few soldiers were injured, nothing significant. The eye in the sky looked around, searching the battlefield for something. "I think it's looking for something," said Garnet.
"Probably a weak spot," said Charles. "That's what I would be looking for after I send in scouts."
Numerous balls of fire began to be fired from the red moon at incredible speeds. BOOM BOOM BOOM. They landed fiercely and the ground began to shake. "It's coming," said Zedd.
The fighters were coming. This was the main force of the Invasion. Garnet could not see how many there were, but probably thousands. The ground continued to shake as if it was a single continuous earthquake that seemed to have no end.
As the ground began to clear up, there were mostly red and black hounds. They were different from the previous group. "Go Riley," Garnet ordered.
Riley's team went to investigate one of them. HOWL. The red and black hounds began to run towards them.
Name: Fire Hound
Level: 50
Class: Invader
Sub-Class: Wild Beast
Stats: High Strength, High Agility
"Die monster!" screamed Romulus. THUNK. "Huh?" Romulus' sword got stuck. "It's not cutting its skin."
Sylvia slashed at the Fire Hound with her scythe. It did not work either. It got caught and she ended up just knocking the Fire Hound over.
"Air Bullet!" Riley hit it at full force up close with wind magic. The Fire Hound was sent flying and seemed to stay down.
"Slashing attacks do not seem to work on the enemies," said Zedd. "Switch to magic and spear formation."
The soldiers in the front remained, but the mages all began to chant spells. Garnet watched as balls of fire, earth, and ice began to shoot towards the enemies that were away from the front line from the castle. It was like it was raining different colors, but each one of those colors was a spell meant to kill its target. Countless numbers of spells bombarded the enemies. At this point, Garnet wished that she had not destroyed the Magitech Cannon. It could have been useful here.
ROAR. The Fire Hounds in the back started to move. Garnet could see why they were dangerous. One of the Fire Hounds opened its mouth and began to set the ground on fire, scorching everything in its path. The other Fire Hounds followed and a wall of fire began to move towards Antium. Garnet could feel the sudden rise in temperature. The enemies were not just a horde of wild animals. They were coordinated, and being led by something. That made them far more dangerous than anything.
"I'm going down there," said Duchess Kiko.
"Alright," said Charles. "Be careful."
"I will," said Duchess Kiko.
Garnet watched as Duchess Kiko rode down and towards the battlefield. She could see lightning coming from Kiko as she made her way down, breaking a hole in the wall of flames. Garnet wanted to go down there too.
More balls of fire rained down from the sky, reinforcing their numbers. The ground began to shake again. There were probably thousands more. "How many more could there possibly be?" Garnet asked.
"I don't know," said Zedd. "I just hope we are prepared for when the big one comes."
"I need to go down there," said Garnet.
Level Up: Skeletons (Level 3)
"It's too dangerous," said Charles.
"I've already been in a small war," said Garnet. "I can handle myself."
"Not yet," said Zedd. "I need you just in case the big one at the end is too much."
Zedd was very afraid of the "big one." Garnet did not know what it is, but if Zedd was afraid of it, then it was obvious that she needed to be careful of it too.
There were Hell Hounds mixed with Fire Hounds now and they all charged forward. Garnet watched as the forces of Antium clashed with the multi colored dogs. Leading the charge was the nobles and her own summons.
Level Up: Skeletal Hounds (Level 6)
Garnet's summons were doing a good job. For some reason though, the human summons were not leveling up, it was only the undead summons. There had to be a reason for that. Now was not the time to worry about it though. Had the East Gate not been repaired, it would have been easy for the Invasion forces to just rip through the wall and destroy Antium. Each undead under Garnet's control that fell could be replaced by Riley, Sylvia, or Romulus, so Garnet had no need to worry about them. She only needed to worry if one of the main leaders fell.
The sheer number of Hounds rushing forth was beginning to overwhelm their forces. "I'm heading down too," said Duke Innes. He was probably the strongest physically out of all of the Dukes.
"Stay safe," said Garnet.
"I will my Queen," said Duke Innes. He rushed down too and onto the battlefield.
Suddenly, they were starting to push back the Hounds. Duke Innes and Duchess Kiko had turned the tide of the battle. When they were boosted by the presence of everyone else, they became extremely powerful. The Kiko that Garnet saw fight the Siren paled in comparison to the power of this one. Her lightning spells jumped between numerous targets, disabling them for long enough periods of time for the soldiers to finish them off. Duke Innes charged forward and was able to push through the flames of the enemies with just his sword and shield alone.
It seemed like the higher ranked the person was, the more powerful they were. There was a reason why these people were Dukes. They were incredible fighters that knew their own abilities very well. Their weakness was that they did not have time to develop their abilities, but with the extra stats, the levels of their abilities did not matter. The pure power granted to them more than compensated for it.
"This is too easy," said Zedd. "Something is wrong."
"What do you mean?" asked Garnet. "We're winning."
"That's the problem," said Zedd. "The previous Invasion was not this weak. They're holding something back for sure."
Zedd was being extra cautious. He continued to observe the battlefield, keeping an eye on the giant eye in the sky that was still watching over them.
ROAR. The giant eye in the sky released a terrifying sound. HOWL. The Hounds began to resonate with it. A red mist began to rise from each of the Hell Hounds as they changed in color to nearly completely black.
Name: Burning Hound
Level: 50
Class: Invader
Sub-Class: Wild Beast
Stats: High Strength, High Agility
"They changed!" Garnet shouted.
"Changed how?" asked Zedd.
"I only see their names changed," said Garnet. "What's going on down there?" Garnet asked Riley.
"Busy!" said Riley. The Hounds began to charge recklessly at their targets. "It's like they're all in some kind of trance."
Garnet watched the battlefield and saw that the Houds were all rushing towards Antium, ignoring their own safety. It was like a suicide charge and they were pushing through fiercely. The red mist was most likely the Burning Hounds boiling their own blood using their flames to increase their own power.
"Get everyone away from the battlefield," said Garnet. "I'll take care of this in an instant. Flight!"
"Alright," said Zedd. He understood what Garnet was going to do. The Burning Hounds had a great weakness since they were boiling their own blood to increase their strength. Garnet's Blood Reaper mode would be able to immediately kill all of them since they would all technically be bleeding. This would also stop them from repeating the same thing. "All troops fall back!"
"I'm coming," Garnet said to Riley.
Garnet from above could see the soldiers retreating. She flew down onto the battlefield. Before her stood the might of the Invasion. "Transformation: Blood Reaper!" Garnet's robes turned red and became revealing. This was not the time to be concerned with that though. She charged in with her bare hands. From every direction, blood was flowing into her body, she could feel the surge in strength from being in the presence of blood.
The only ones that did not retreat were Garnet's summons. After all, they were not affected since they technically did not have blood. They ran on mana and did not bleed like other people.
"Blood Scythe!" In a single swing, Garnet took out a dozen of the Burning Hounds in an instant. What should have given the Invaders an advantage immediately became a disadvantage. The enemies were being drained to empower Garnet and she could use her blood magic to instantly kill them.
Level Up: Blood Scythe (Level 2)
"I'm surprised we would fight side by side so soon," said Riley.
"I wanted to come sooner, but they wouldn't let me," said Garnet. "When Zedd saw what the enemy was doing, they let me come out here to do this."
Around them, all of the Burning Hounds were collapsing as blood left their body. Garnet could not control what it drained blood from, but she was draining blood from everything around her. Sadly, Garnet did not gain any experience for defeating them this way otherwise it would have been a ridiculous amount of experience. She had to deal a killing blow for it to grant experience. Either that or they were just not worth any experience. She gathered their blood into a ball in her hand.
"Yes we did it!" Riley shouted proud of taking down the hounds.
"Blood Sacrifice!" Garnet used the blood that she gathered to heal the wounds of the summons. She wanted it to help the soldiers, but they were too far away.
Skill Upgrade: Skeletal Hound -> Undead Hound
Skill Upgrade: Skeleton -> Revenant
Skill Upgrade: Skeletal Knight -> Death Knight
Something unexpected happened. When Garnet used the blood she gathered to restore the Skeletons, they changed. They began to develop flesh and bone, making them much stronger than before. They were not as fragile anymore. Even Romulus and Sylvia began to gain a little color in their flesh.
"Hey what did you just do?" asked Riley.
"I was trying to heal them, but I think I just made all of them stronger," said Garnet.
Garnet looked up at the eye that was staring straight down at her. She felt something from the eye, but did not know what. But, according to Zedd, it was still not over. "Let's go back for now," said Garnet. "I don't want to be here when they unleash the rest of their army."
"Go," said Romulus. He turned around and slowly moved backwards, keeping an eye on things making sure nothing would surprise them. "That eye is creepy. It keeps looking at me."
"I think it's focused on me," said Garnet. Her summons returned to the front line, stronger than ever. In total, about 20% of their forces were unable to fight, but the Invasion lost far more. In exchange for 4000 soldiers, the Invasion probably lost tens of thousands. On the way back, Garnet could hear the cheers of the army. They had successfully held off a major attack with relatively little losses.
The problem was that they still did not know how much forces the Invasion had. According to Zedd there was still the siege group and the final group. The eye in the sky continued to look at them, judging its options. For a brief moment though, the forces of Antium got to rest a little.
Garnet flew back up to the top of the castle walls. "You did it!" said Charles as he grabbed Garnet for a hug.
"I told you, not here," said Garnet as she pushed him away. "We're not anywhere near done yet."
"Yes," said Zedd. "We still don't know how much more they have."
"Rotate out the soldiers and rest for now," said Charles. "But have them keep watch in case the eye makes a move."
"Rotate soldiers and rest," Zedd announced. The soldiers that had not fought yet suddenly took the front lines.
The soldiers were highly trained and they obeyed the orders. Even though they were showing fear at first, something about them clicked when the nobles started heading down to fight. It was as if their fears disappeared and they fought ferociously.
"We're doing fairly well compared to last time," said Charles. "Last time, we lost all our drafted soldiers and half of our main army before we even reached this point."
"Don't let your guard down yet," said Zedd. "We only got a victory because we were able to exploit a critical weakness in their strategy. They won't make the same mistake again."
HOWL. The eye in the sky released another loud howl. The ground began to shake as the numerous balls of fire landed on the ground. "Quick, scout them," said Zedd.
Quest Update: The First Invasion (00:00:00)
Defend Antium from the second wave of the Invasion.
Reward: Experience, Fame
Riley and the undead were already on their way to see what it was. "More hounds," said Riley. "Some of them have multiple heads."
Name: Cerberus
Level: 55
Class: Invader
Sub-Class: Wild Beast
Stats: High Strength, High Agility, High Vitality
The Cerberus were much bigger as well. They were at least twice the size of the other hounds. Some of them were even bigger than that. This was most likely the siege group that Zedd mentioned. The bigger and stronger hounds were better for knocking down walls if they made it that far. However, the fact that they were sending their siege creatures meant that they were also probably running low and had no choice but to do it.
"All forces intercept!" Zedd ordered. "Do not let the large ones reach the walls."
"I'm heading down there too," said Duke Keith.
"I'll go with you," said Duke Joey.
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"Go," said Charles. "This will probably be the most difficult part if Zedd is correct."
This was the group that was meant to break the walls. If they succeeded, then Antium would be extremely vulnerable. But, if the army was able to hold them back, then they would almost have a certain victory since they prepared for the final enemy of the wave already.
The reinvigorated soldiers were stronger than ever after Garnet had taken out the Burning Hounds. Garnet kept looking at the eye on the sky, seeing if it had any other tricks. After all, Zed had said it was too easy, meaning that there was probably another trick here as well.
CRACKLE. Some of the Cerberus began to breath fire as well. They sprayed it in a wide arc against the soldiers. Despite their armor, the heat was going through and causing some problems. It was most likely that their flames had a similar effect to being able to ignore armor or defense.
Riley and her team were fighting against many of the Cerberus. "I got it," said Lilith who used her arm to puncture the head.
Despite this, the Cerberus continued to move. "You have to get all the heads," said Romulus. "There's no point if one of them is still moving."
"Lightning Ray!" Riley used lightning which was able to at least stun the enemy for a brief period of time. "Go Sylvia!"
Sylvia slashed the heads off with her scythe. With her incredible strength, she was able to make a clean cut through most of them since only some of the one headed one had the special skin that made them difficult to cut.
The good part so far was that the monsters from the Invasion, despite their numbers, did poorly when fighting in large numbers. They had to spread out otherwise they would hurt each other with their own flames. This allowed the soldiers to pick them off one at a time and use distractions to create openings where they could kill the creatures. The soldiers were improving as they fought because they were getting large amounts of experience. The ones that survived the Invasion would most likely become very powerful.
HOWL. In the distance was a group of wolves that organized themselves into a circle. "They're casting magic!" shouted Zedd.
"Can you stop them Riley?" Garnet asked.
"No, they're too far away," Riley responded.
"We won't reach it in time," said Zedd.
The eye turned to face the magic circle. The ground used the twelve wolves on the outside and the spread out wolves on the inside to create a dodecagon magic circle using each of the wolves as a point on the magic circle. A blue pillar of light appeared in the sky and connected the two. It was a powerful summoning spell.
"The wolves were arranged to create a magic circle," said Zedd. "They spread out on purpose!"
An orange flame appeared in the center of the magic circle. A giant purple paw appeared. BANG. The ground shook as it hit the ground. The other paw appeared. BANG. The ground shook again. Out of the flames stepped a huge two headed dog. They had summoned a more powerful creature.
Name: Twin Headed Cerberus
Level: 70
Class: Invader
Sub-class: Wild Beast
Stats: ???
ROAR. It let out a deafening roar that seemed to rally all of the hounds together. "Is that the leader?" Garnet asked. If the giant hound reached the walls, it would probably break through it easily.
"I'm not sure," said Zedd. "It could still be part of the siege wave.
"Should we use the Sword of Elements now?" Garnet asked.
"Yes," said Zedd. "That beast must not be allowed to reach the walls."
"Flight!" Garnet flew up to the balcony of the castle. From here, she could see everything. Specs of fire light up and disappeared in the distance. There were magic spells flying out of the castle and towards the enemy.
The one thing that stood out, was the Twin Headed Cerberus. "Form your sword," said Zedd.
Zedd began to concentrate mana into the palm of his hands. He was creating his. Garnet began to do the same in hers.
The Twin Headed Cerberus began its advance. HOWL. It howled and ordered the other hounds to create a spear formation.
"Wall of Storms!" Kiko created a wall of lightning that paralyzed the weaker hounds in front. This slowed them down. The big Twin Headed Cerberus was an easy target and was constantly being bombarded with lower tier spells. It could shake some of it off, but the occasional ball of fire or giant rock knocked it backwards, slowing it down.
Dukes Innes, Joey, and Keith began to cut their way through the weaker hounds, but there were too many of them and more of them were coming. It seemed like their enemy was investing everything into this attack.
"Crimson Lotus: Blade of Lightning!" Garnet created her large blade of flame and lightning. It was bigger than her.
Zedd's spell took longer. He was still pulling the blade out. "Begin channeling your mana into the magic circle underneath us," said Zedd.
Garnet did as ordered and the walls of Antium begin to glow with a light blue. The entire city had been converted to a giant magic circle. The problem was that the power needed to activate it was enormous. Zedd alone did not have the power, so he needed Garnet's power. Her high mana regeneration meant that she could fill it in due time. The problem was whether the front line would last long enough.
The Twin Headed Cerberus was slowly pushing them back. The regular soldiers and the mages simply just did not have the power to deal significant damage to it.
HOWL. There was another loud howl. Another pillar of blue light appeared. "There's more?!?" shouted Garnet who was surprised by this.
"This is not the final enemy," said Zedd. "This is still the siege wave!"
"But our front lines are barely holding against one of them," said Garnet.
"We will have to use the Sword of Elements to try to take them out then," said Zedd. "But we only have one shot."
Zedd held his blue sword in the middle of the magic circle. Garnet put her red, orange, and yellow one next to his. The two combined into a blue sword that was surrounded by lightning and flames of numerous colors.
The magic circle began to fill up faster, but it was still going to take time. The light was going up the walls of Antium now. It would still have to reach the point at the top of the castle. "How much more time?" Garnet asked.
"I'm not sure," said Zedd.
On the front lines, Riley and the new summons were putting up a decent fight against the hounds. The Revenants and Death Knights could almost each take out a hound on their own now. "We can't do this forever," said Riley.
"We just need to hold out until the spell is ready," said Romulus. "Just the same as the last one."
"Can't you use some super power?" Sylvia asked Riley.
"Nope," said Riley. "I can't use any of Garnet's full transformations. I'm already using the partial Temptress of the Night transformation to increase my abilities."
Lilith was the closest thing to a fully transformed Garnet. She could tear her way through most of the hounds like they were paper, but they were still too many in number. A dozen or so troops could take out hundreds, but against the thousands, definitely not. The soldiers were slowly losing ground.
"Lightning Ray!" Riley fired the strongest lightning spell that she and Garnet knew at the Twin Headed Cerberus.
BZZT. The Twin Headed Cerberus tried to shake it off and push forward, but it was greatly slowed. "Lightning Stream!" A much larger bolt of lightning flew across the battlefield and zapped the other Twin Headed Cerberus. Kiko had used a powerful spell in order to immobilize it as well.
The one held by Riley was only slowing down, while the one held by Kiko's had completely stopped. "Focus on killing the one that is still moving," ordered Charles.
The back line of soldiers began to mobilize from their defensive position towards the Twin Headed Cerberus that was fighting with Riley.
HOWL. It was another loud howl. A third Twin Headed Cerberus appeared. "There's three of them now!" shouted Riley.
The magic circle was still only halfway filled. "Can't we use it without channeling it all the way?" Garnet asked.
"We could, but that would make it pointless, since it will probably only wound them," said Zedd.
"If they're weakened, do you think that the soldiers can fight it?" Garnet asked.
"Maybe," said Zedd.
"Let's launch it now, then we split up," said Garnet. "I'll go join Riley's group to take out the middle Twin Headed Cerberus, you take the one on the right that's making its way up and then afterwards, we go to the one that is being confined by Kiko."
"Alright," said Zedd. "Sword of Elements!" Zedd swung the sword horizontally and watched as it cut across the battlefield.
BOOM. The ground shook from the massive explosion that caused flames and lightning to rise from the crack in the ground. The Twin Headed Cerberus that was paralyzed by Kiko lost one of its heads and legs entirely. The one being held by Riley collapsed on the floor, but it was still struggling to get up. The third one that was uncontained only suffered burns.
"We will fight the three hounds separately," Zedd ordered. "Do not let them group up. I will be heading into battle with the Queen."
"Flight!" Garnet flew towards the battlefield and headed towards the middle hound. She watched as Zedd activated his Mana Armor. In his hand was a sword. The other hand carried his magic staff. He was going to fight the third Twin Headed Cerberus on his own.
Garnet watched as Kiko and her group finished off the Twin Headed Cerberus on the left. The main problem was the one on the right that did not suffer many injuries. But to reach it, they would have to cut across the one in the middle as well.
As Garnet landed, she began to engage the Twin Headed Cerberus. "Tranformation: Elementalist!" She changed into a mode that would enhance her magic. She saw that Riley benefited from this transformation as well. Riley's black hair had changed into yellow. She was a blonde now, but the other changes did not occur.
"Lightning Ray!" Garnet fired stronger bolts of lightning at the Twin Headed Cerberus. "Go!" she ordered.
Level Up: Lightning Ray (Level 2)
Lilith, Romulus, and Sylvia spread out, aiming for different legs. Lilith struck the left leg, but she could not cut through it like she did with the regular hounds. She repeatedly smashed the leg. CRACK. The Twin Headed Cerberus began to limp on one side. "I got it!" said Lilith.
Romulus and Sylvia headed towards the right one, repeatedly slashing at it. The first few attacks did very little, but as they repeatedly hit the leg, it began to bruise and weaken. The Twin Headed Cerberus struggled as it tried to move its legs to counter this attack, but the lightning greatly impaired its movements, making it impossible to step on the ones attacking it.
HOWL. The Twin Headed Cerberus howled as it fell to the ground. "Attack its heads!" Garnet ordered.
The Twin Headed Cerberus raised its head and tried to bite the people that approached. Even though its body was slowed down, it could still react quickly enough if it was just the head. "We can't get close," said Lilith.
"Go help them," said Riley. "I'll take care of slowing it down." Riley continued to channel the lightning on her own while Garnet went to join the others.
"Flight!" Garnet flew towards the others. "Grab on," she said to Romulus and Sylvia as she pulled them up. Lilith followed on her own by flying.
Garnet brought them up about ten feet above the head of the Cerberus. "Go!" she ordered.
Romulus dropped down with his sword in his hands. SHLUCK. The extra momentum helped him cut right into the head of the right head. The left head was the only one still moving now. Sylvia came straight down and smashed the left head. YIP. The hound cried in pain as its head crashed against the ground. Lilith followed and smashed its head, caving in part of the skull.
"Did we do it?" Garnet wondered.
The hound struggled as it tried to move. "No," said Riley who was still trying to keep it paralyzed with lightning. "Finish it off."
The hound could barely move, but it was still not dead. "Lightning Fire Bolt!" Garnet fired one more spell at the hound. BOOM. The explosion knocked the head aside, dislocating its neck. She could hear a loud CRACK as well.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
It was five whole levels. Then again, it was by no means an easy enemy. It was extremely tough and was nearly three times her level.
"Blood Absorption!" Garnet absorbed the body of the Twin Headed Cerberus.
Stat Increase: Strength +5
Stat Increase: Vitality +5
Stat Increase: Agility +5
It was a little bit of stats. Still better than nothing at least. In the distance, Garnet saw the last Twin Headed Cerberus tip over. The ground shook as it fell over. Zedd had finished off the last Twin Headed Cerberus on his own.
As long as no more arrived, the siege wave would be over, meaning that there was still just one final enemy. In all, the forces of Antium lost about 30% so far, mostly due to injuries, but there were certainly some deaths as well. If Garnet had not stopped the berserk charge by the Burning Hounds, there would certainly be more.
"All forces fall back and prepare for the next group!" Zedd ordered.
The soldiers headed back to the East Gate and lined themselves again. The injured retreated back inside the city. They were down to almost half as many soldiers as they started. It was a significant loss and it was still not over. There was still the final enemy.
The eye in the sky scouted the battlefield once more looking for something. Garnet could not figure out what it was looking for. At one point, it was staring at Garner as if it was interested in her, but then its attention changed to other things on the battlefield, such as the city of Antium itself.
Quest Update: The First Invasion (00:00:00)
Defend Antium from the last wave of the Invasion.
Reward: Experience, Fame
A great ball of fire larger than all the previous ones appeared. BOOM. As the ball of fire landed, the ground shook with the force of a powerful earthquake. The rumbling did not stop for several seconds. Out of the fire stepped a large three headed dog.
Name: Three Headed Cerberus
Level: 90
Class: Invader
Sub-class: Wild Beast
Stats: ???
Numerous smaller balls of fire launched from the eye, giving the Three Headed Cerberus a small army to support it as well. The eye in the sky suddenly disappeared and with it, the red star or moon like object. "Did it give up?" Garnet wondered.
The mighty Three Headed Cerberus charged straight for Antium. "All forces intercept it!" shouted Zedd.
Garnet could see that a cage of lightning was being used to slow down the Three Headed Cerberus, but it was doing little to it. It barely even slowed down as it ran straight for Antium.
"We can't stop it!" said Riley.
"Zedd!" Garnet shouted.
"I know," said Zedd who was preparing a powerful lightning spell in his hands. "Buy me a little time."
"Transformation: Temptress of the Night!" In her most powerful form, Garnet headed into the battlefield as well. The lightning spells were not working against the Three Headed Cerberus, so they had to fight it head on in order to keep it busy for Zedd. The powerful spells took a lot of preparation time, which was their disadvantage.
Riley, Nuria, Mazu, Lilith, Romulus, Sylvia, and the squad of undead were all trying to fight the Three Headed Cerberus, but it was too strong for them. Even though Garnet's summons technically could not be hurt by something unless it was made of mana, they were still being knocked around. Each of the heads were coordinating their attacks and covering their weak points and blind spots.
Lilith tried to attack it from above, but it avoided the attack. Romulus and Riley tried to knock it over, but the giant hound was able to maneuver itself quite well.
Garnet dove in. "Blood Scythe!" She swung the giant scythe of blood in a wide angle.
BAM. It struck one of the heads and the Three Headed Cerberus lost its balance for a second opening it up for follow up attacks. Even though the Three Headed Cerberus was fast, it could still not dodge everything. If they used attacks that covered a wide area, they would still be able to hit it. Romulus tackled the leg of the Three Headed Cerberus, pushing it over. Sylvia raised her scythe and swung at its under belly, cutting at it. Meanwhile, the skeletons were focused on trying to attack its head, which was still ferociously trying to bite back.
"Prepare your sword," Zedd messaged to Garnet.
"You guys will need to stall it," said Garnet.
"Alright," said Riley. She had some of the benefits of Garnet's transformation. Riley's hair turned white and she was stronger and faster than before.
"Crimson Lotus: Blade of Lightning!" Garnet began to charge up the blade.
"When the hound is paralyzed, use your sword to destroy it!" said Zedd.
"Got it," said Garnet.
Meanwhile, Riley was leading the others against the Three Headed Cerberus. Her theoretical knowledge of combat was paying off significantly. She was watching the legs of the Three Headed Cerberus and calling out its attacks.
"It's going to swipe with its left leg!" Riley announced.
Immediately, Romulus rushed in with his shield to block it. This gave the others a chance to knock it off its feet. Lilith rammed into the side of the Three Headed Cerberus and Sylvia swiped at its right leg, knocking the whole thing off balance. The undead hounds and skeletons then tried to hold it down to stop it from recovering.
The problem was that the skin of the Three Headed Cerberus was too tough. Their attacks could not break the skin. The group was only dealing superficial damage to it.
"I'm ready!" shouted Zedd. "Get away from it!" A yellow light flashed from Zedd in the distance.
Everyone immediately backed away from the Three Headed Cerberus. Six yellow lightning rods fell around the Three Headed Cerberus. From there, they each fired a bolt of lightning towards the center. The Three Headed Cerberus was tagged by it. The lightning rods formed a cage as the bolts of lightning began to tug the Three Headed Cerberus in every direction. It fell over with its legs being drawn apart. It could not move anymore.
The spell was not done though. Lightning flowed from the surrounding towards the center and bound the Three Headed Cerberus almost like rope. To finish it off, a large spear made of lightning fell from the sky and impaled it through its back before the cage dissipated, leaving only the spear on its back and the lightning bolts that tugged at it.
"Now!" said Zedd.
Garnet swung her Blade of Lightning. BOOM. Garnet was blown away by the explosive power of the impact. There was a crater where the Three Headed Cerberus used to stand. At the center of it, was the body of the Three Headed Cerberus. It was badly burned with numerous scars all over its body.
Level Up: Crimson Lotus: Blade of Lightning (Level 2)
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
New Skill: Wind Blade (Level 1)
Throw an arc of wind that can cut objects it comes into contact with
MP Cost: 50
"You did it!" shouted Riley.
Quest Complete: The Final Wave
Defend Antium from the Invasion.
Reward: Experience, Fame
You have leveled up!
"Blood Absorption!" Garnet absorbed the body of the Three Headed Cerberus.
Skill Upgrade: Call: Undead Hounds -> Call: Cerberus
The hounds under your control are now living and breathing beings capable of breathing fire. A maximum of 5 can be summoned.
MP Cost: 500 each
Garnet's summons changed immensely from this one Invasion and were much more powerful than ever before. But that made Garnet think of something. "Was whatever behind the Invasions a summoner of their own?" That would make sense considering what appeared to be an endless number of enemies. On the other hand, if the eye did have an endless number of summons, why did it give up so easily? There were still many questions that were unanswered, but it was best to do them one at a time. The first of those questions, Riley. She had come into contact with the Hero System and even claimed that it spoke to her. It was time to figure out what she knew.