The suicide bomber is currently heading towards the wounded catlanx and earth tank watching her, aka not close enough! I order it to turn around and go after Stalt, it’s going to take too damn long to get there but better late than never. In the meantime I order the remaining two bombers to move up and engage the warriors. My twiglings are dying quickly now that they have solid ground to stand on and I’m out of surprises. Speaking of dying, Stalt is going to tear my throwers apart, think think think….. Ok new plan. I send the five melees who were originally escorting the suicide bomber to attack Stalt, hopefully they will delay him enough. Then I order the thrower twiglings to join the melee against the warriors. They aint going to do shit against Stalt, but they will help with the warriors, and having his own men to worry about might prevent him from just thrashing them haphazardly.
The twiglings all rush forward, the five melees straight for Stalt and the throwers to join the melee against the warriors. They get about two steps before a couple of arrows pincushion two of the thrower twiglings, killing them instantly. Meanwhile, the battle against the warriors rages on, with them managing to kill six more melee twigling at the puny cost of only two warriors killed and an additional wounded beyond fighting.
Defeated: Human(Level: 35, Warrior - Level: 35)
+80 EXP
Defeated: Elf(Level: 41, Warrior - Level: 40)
+91 EXP
I order the wounded killed on both sides of the field, and watch Stalt get visibly pissed off as the throwers slash apart the wounded warriors on their way by. On the melee side the one has managed to retreat back behind his brothers and sisters before collapsing, so I wont be getting him at the moment.
Defeated: Human(Level: 31, Warrior - Level: 30)
+71 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 41, Warrior - Level: 40)
+91 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 37, Warrior - Level: 35)
+82 EXP
Defeated: Foxkin(Level: 29, Warrior - Level: 29)
+68 EXP
The five melees approach Stalt in a run and go to pounce on him. He responds by swinging his sword into three of them, killing them instantly via bisection. He actually over swings and his sword ends up embedded in a tree, but instead of trying to pull it out he lets go and turns to face the next twigling. Before I can finish processing his previous actions he lunges forward and punches the next twigling square in the face with such force that its head shatters into splinters, while the fifth one is turned into a pincushion by the supporting archers.
With that he turns back and takes the moment required to pull his sword free, then turns and dashes off to chase after the thrower twiglings bearing down on the warriors. The few warriors who survived the twiglings ambush have finally gotten their senses back and group up with him to give chase.
“On your right flank, on your right flank! Turn to face, turn to face!” Stalt screams at the warriors engaged in the melee as he chases down and slashes into a thrower twigling at the back.
The warning works, the warriors who were previously solely occupied with the melees turn in time to see the throwers about to come crashing down on them. Some break off to go an engage the new threat, and just enough of them take to the new fighting line in time to prevent themselves from being overrun. But the result is two fold, they prevented a nasty flank but at the cost of their formations, and it shows. The remaining sixteen melee twiglings immediately start taking more ground and doing more damage, immediately resulting in one warrior's death who over-extended and was noticed alone.
Defeated: Human(Level: 38, Warrior - Level: 38)
+86 EXP
The three twiglings made short work of him. But that's where the good news ends, as Stalt and the two warriors who could actually fight after the ambush end up double flanking my thrower twiglings and ripping them to pieces while the archers pick off weakened targets from afar. On and on the fighting goes, but for every warrior to fall four twiglings also die. I get five kills and two incapacitations while losing twenty twiglings before my reinforcements show up.
Defeated: Human(Level: 40, Warrior - Level: 39)
+89 EXP
*Ding* You have leveled up!
Defeated: Elf(Level: 33, Warrior - Level: 32)
+75 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 37, Warrior - Level: 35)
+82 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 40, Warrior - Level: 38)
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
+88 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 29, Warrior - Level: 28)
+67 EXP
Finally, after what feels like an eternity of watching my twiglings die, the bomber I sent after the wounded adventures party makes its way back into the general combat area. About fucking time, I immediately send it after Stalt, who seems very occupied tearing my forces to pieces. As it approaches the two remaining bombers make their entrance from my side of the field, and are promptly ordered to charge into the melee. The one going for Stalt is about halfway to him when one of the archers notices it and takes aim. His first arrow misses, his second goes wide as well. Then the twigling runs behind a large grouping of bushes, breaking line of sight. The archer curses under his breath and picks another target.
So the twigling gets closer to its target unmolested. This guy ain't even going to know what hit him. It gets closer and closer until it doesn't. It's about fifty feet from the orc when from behind a needle the size of my thumb and made out of water pierces its torso, rupturing the sack and blowing the twigling to pieces. The explosion expands out, the shock wave knocking over the warriors and twigings closest to the blast and causing the rest to stagger, except for Stalt, who seems to barely care. They recover quickly, but not quick enough, the twiglings claim two more souls.
Defeated: Human(Level: 39, Warrior - Level: 38)
+87 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 35, Warrior - Level: 35)
+80 EXP
Who the fuck just shot my twigling and what the fuck did they shoot it with? I swear by whatever gods these degenerate monkey wanabes try to worship I am going to lynch someone with a tree branch! God fucking damn it the hunters finally caught up, now of all times!
Sasil (Human, Level 50 Hydromancer)
Seymour (Human, Level 31 Archer)
Sage (Human, Level 42 Warrior)
“Stalt you damn brute, pay attention! Some of these fucking things are loaded with blast pods!” Sasil yells above the racket of combat.
Well, apparently the warriors heard that, not surprising with how loud she yelled. They immediately get way more cautious, concern visible on some of their faces. Their offense all but stops, most of them simply opting to start holding the twiglings at length instead of risking killing them. Stalt freezes for a second, probably processing what he just heard before he turns and barks out new orders.
“Close ranks and move to defensive tactics! Veterans, slay anything that isn't covered in yellow sacks, the rest of you fucking parry! Sasil, your party keeps an eye out and stops any reinforcements these things try to get, I want no more surprises!”
And with that the whole dynamic of the battle shifts once again. The lower leveled warriors take up more defensive stances and simply parry attacks, while the higher level ones form three groups of two and start systematically picking my bush men off. By this time the archers have run out of arrows, instead opting to help keep lookout with the adventure party. Slowly but surely my twiglings are getting picked off, and I’m down to three melees and eleven ranged units while the warriors suffer two more deaths and two more injuries.
Defeated: Human(Level: 39, Warrior - Level: 38)
+87 EXP
Defeated: Human(Level: 35, Warrior - Level: 35)
+80 EXP
Finally the other two suicide bombers arrive at the battle and I immediately send them in while ordering the rest of my twiglings to retreat. Of course the vigilant adventures notice the two new arrivals. The hydromancer conjures up another water needle and sends it flying at the front bomber. I throw a shield spell on it at last second but it does't matter, the spell blows through the shield as if it was wet paper and pierces the sack strapped to the bomber resulting in the expected explosion. The second bomber just barely made enough distance between itself and its now atomized compatriot to not get caught in the explosion thanks to a last second order from me.
I throw a shield on it as it continues its charge towards the mass of warriors led by Stalt. The warriors meanwhile show surprise when the mass of twiglings suddenly breaks off and surges back into the forest. Then after a few moments they switch to relief and joy, with some of the younger ones even cheering. That is until the first of the suicide bombers detonated, causing the whole group to fall back into a state of alarm.
The bomber continues its approach, the hydromancer seeming to be attempting to conjure a different spell than the needle while the archer takes aim with his bow. Both let loose at once and the projectiles fly between the trees. The hydromancer threw some sort of compressed water ball, which falls short and explodes against a tree, causing high pressure water to spray everywhere for a moment. The arrow however finds the twigling, shattering the shield and embedding itself in the walking bush’s mockery of a head.
It stumbles for a moment, then I start healing it since I didn't feel it disconnect from the network. It quickly regains speed as I pull up its status to see it has a tiny three points of health left, slowly increasing thanks to the healing I'm applying to it.
“Shit! Stalt, incoming!” Sasil yells.
All the warriors freeze up as the twigling bursts through the bushes and tries to dive into the middle of them. But thanks to Sasil’s warning, Stalt was ready. The orc steps forward and in one fluid motion grabs the suicide bomber by its head with both his hands and hurls it back into the forest while screaming at his men to scatter. The twigling sailed through the air for a good thirty five feet, before impacting a tree and detonating. The explosion didn't kill any more warriors but did knock a few on their asses. Stalt, meanwhile, didn't even budge, just standing there with a scowl on his face while his men recomposed themselves.
This fucking orc, I don't know whether to be pissed off or impressed. On the one hand, he denied me my kills, on the other, he did it by fucking yeeting a suicide bomber. That takes some fucking balls.
“Are we going to pursue them captain?” One of the warriors asks.
“Hell no! You, you, and you, grab some of the corpses of those things and carry them back with us. The rest of you pick up the wounded and prepare to move out, we are leaving now!” Stalt says while pointing at a few of the warriors.
“I'm going back to get the rest of my party, we’ll meet up with you on the way” Sasil says to the orc while jogging off.
Oh right I forgot about the wounded one and the earth tank. Do I want to kill them, hmmmm. The archer is still on the ground, barely breathing and still unconscious while the earth tank stands over her on constant vigil.
I decide against it, I don’t know what he’s capable of and I don’t want to risk revealing myself. I’ve earned enough today, I shouldn't be too greedy. Thankfully they decided to leave, I still have some twiglings too. Once they are gone I’ll send them back out to collect any leftover corpses, which looks like all of them because they aren't bothering to recover their dead.
Man, I really sent em packing, mission accomplished! Now, how many points do I have?