The two groups became tense, half expecting something giant and untoward to suddenly burst out from the treeline toward them. After a handful of seconds of silence and no immediate threat, they gathered their composure and started to prepare.

Sally clicked her fingers. "Fangs, out into the woods and flank. Do not engage until the battle has begun. Understand?"

Theo bowed briefly and then was off, not wasting any time to deliberate further.

She hadn't wanted to split him off at first, but knowing something was on the way meant they could get an advantage by having the vampire attack from behind. He wasn't being tracked, so he should be able to do that without issues.

It was a small blessing that they had finished off the Invasion in good time and recovered. No matter what was approaching, it wouldn't be fun to be stuck between both threats.

"Humps you're going up in front to absorb everything possible. We want to hit it with any slow or entangle we have. Keep it in place and pelt it from range." She glared around at everyone and received nods of acknowledgement.

Not knowing what it was bugged her, but getting it pinned in place so they could hit it with ranged damage seemed safer from the outset rather than get the melee classes into trouble. The Death Knight could weather that storm with little issue, assuming that it was a Monster or something simple-mined. If it was a Unique or something with some actual intelligence, they might have a step up over the Outsiders.

Worst-case scenario she could use [Brain Drain], but she wasn't keen on having that on cool down when other things could be on their way in short order. The actual worst-case scenario was that some of them could die.

There was an invisible timer on that eventuality, and she needed to think of a solution soon.

"Insiders, you need to keep Chuck alive, okay? No heroics. Use what you can in range, but otherwise stay safe."

Even if the Outsiders were the actual target, if they were looking at putting the druid in charge of this whole mess once the dust settled, then they’d need him in one piece. She still had half the mind to send them away, but they probably wouldn’t leave even if she asked.

“Figure has stopped.” Fern said. “No movement.”

They all stood in silence.

From within the woods there came a screeching noise. High-pitched and abrasive to the ears, right before a flash of light briefly illuminated the woods in a radiant yellow. A small gust of air wafted out and into the graveyard, carrying with it the smell of burned vegetation.

There was a pulse of energy beside Sally, before Theo burst out of nothing to collapse onto the ground.

“Theo?!” She stepped away, questions congested in her mind as they fought for an answer.

“Yeah.” He stood up and dusted his suit down. “Good news and bad news.”

She sighed. “You can respawn, but the enemy can detect you and kill you that easily?”

“Did I ever tell you how smart you were?” He grinned.

“Enemy back on the move,” Fern signaled.

Sally clenched her teeth together, ignoring for the moment that if his blood didn’t work, then he would have been dead again. “Details, Theo. Before they are here.”

He nodded and raised his voice, so that all could hear. “Tall golem looking thing. Four arms, each probably with a powerful attack that charges up. Bands of light down the arms so that you can see how charged the attacks are. One of the hands is a powerful radiant beam.”

Humphrey nodded. “Were the rest of the attacks charged up?”

Theo nodded. “As far as I could see, but it caught me unaware.”

“I bet you’re happy you came back, huh?” Sally narrowed her eyes at the vampire. His casual attitude toward his own mortality was exhausting. Plus, if something could kill him in one hit…

“Well, it wasn’t without… complications.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “An error, as I can’t lose levels due to the experience lock. So I got a stack of Exhaustion instead.”

“You’re telling me…” she rubbed at her eyes before sighing toward the woods. “You’re essentially unkillable, but you’ll get more insane each time.”

“Never a dull moment, huh?”

She scowled at him and turned her attention away. He’d get a piece of her mind once all this was over, and if he was really unlucky, she’d get a piece of his mind too. There were no visible countdowns, but there were too many spinning plates now, grinding away at her patience.

A big Monster about to arrive, with overpowered kill-moves. Invasions every twenty minutes that wouldn’t end, just get more difficult. Seven and the Reds. The Architect. Theo’s sanity. She tried to think if there were any Chekhov’s guns they’d left lying around.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

A vibration sunk through the thick mud of the graveyard. Heavy footsteps approaching as trees began to crack and fall in the distance. Her eye twitched.

“Jackie,” she turned back to the stagecoach. “Got anything to light up the forest?” She was normally opposed to such wanton destruction of nature—especially with Chuck and Fern here—but it might give them an advantage.

“Sure, boss.” The mobster spat out her cigarette and grabbed the handle of Betty, her crossbow now affixed between the pair mounted to the roof of the vehicle. The barrels of all three spun as amber light encircled the bolts within.

A wave of warm air washed over the gathered Parties as a trio of flaming bolts zipped overhead in an arc, landing two dozen feet into the woods.

“Things are damp. It might not be that easy,” Chuck said from the side. He looked tired and withdrawn now, the constant combat a bit more than he was used to.

Smoke began to billow out of the dense woodland, but it hadn’t turned into the raging inferno as Sally had hoped. Humphrey and Theo would have to take care of the damaging attacks quickly, as they were the only ones capable of living on after taking that kind of punishment. She had [Brain Drain] ready if required, but she wasn’t about to run up into its face and get obliterated in the attempt.

Closer still, she could see the trees shuffling and buckling. “Contact,” she growled. “Do not hesitate!”

A wave of dust billowed out as the nearest trees burst away from the ground, the large figure silhouetted against the smokescreen was almost as tall as the trees. A rectangular body that rounded at the top, like a semi-circle, had multiple glowing runes upon it. Four arms that ended in wide human-like hands, bands of color moving down each arm to the shoulder joints. Their top left arm was dim, aside from two bands nearest their body. Thick dome-shaped feet stomped through the vegetation and small wall of the graveyard perimeter.

As soon as it was in sight, everyone attacked.

Lights flared and flickered around the drab area as skills and abilities pulsed toward the large golem. Roots burst around its legs and a debuff slowed their movement. A dozen bandages wrapped the two right arms and pointed them toward the ground. Tens of bolts clattered from its light stonework body.

The free arm spun forward as the two large white eyes observed the combatants.

“Target: Outsiders. Acquired.”

A flash of bright white illuminated Sally as the palm faced her.

[Dread Counter]

Theo vanished and appeared in the air above the golem. Dropping down with a punch-blade blazing crimson with critical energy, he struck the shoulder of the top right charged arm. There was a crack as he chipped a dent into the stone, but little else. Immediately, he slammed his other hand into the sliver of damage.

With a terrible screech, his metal coffin expanded within the gap, wrenching the arm apart from the body. A hiss of energy pulsed from the split wound, magical power instead of any sort of traditional blood. Theo dropped to the ground and rolled as the bandages withdrew from the broken limb.

From where Sally stood, she could see the charges quite clearly. It looked like there were ten bands on each limb, so ten percent each. Although the vampire had disabled one of the attacks, it increased the recharging speed of the other two. She was about to yell this out, before the golem tugged sharply on the bandages holding the bottom arm, sending Norah onto the floor.

Theo looked up to see the arm twist away from the restraints and hover over him. He went to use [Blood Shift] before realizing it was out of charges. “I’m getting really bad at count-"

An intense gout of flame blew through into the ground, turning the grass into ash and scorching the area dry.

A brief pop of energy and the vampire returned beside Sally.

“Ass, try to take this seriously.” She scowled but didn’t look his way. Her zombies were out of the picture, hiding throughout the graveyard. Mostly to maintain their Stat buff, without getting squished, but also as an early warning for anyone trying to sneak up on them.

“I am,” he whined. “You try dying three or four times in a day. Takes a lot out of you.” He yawned and then set off again towards the Monster.

Without any charges left, it had taken to use its large fists in melee. One foot burst from the vine restraints and it lunged down at Humphrey, slamming into the flat of his blocking blade. The Death Knight sunk half a foot into the mud from the impact, waves of color moving over him as all of his buffs came up.

An explosive shot zipped across from the stagecoach and burst on the golem’s face, one of its eyes now partially destroyed. It kicked Humphrey away and turned its glare toward the vehicle.

“High Threat. Eliminate.”

The Light and Fire arms dropped in charge percentage, as the last two bands of the radiant one completed and that hand was leveled toward the coach.

[Impenetrable Defense]

Against better judgement, the Monster twisted the attack down at the Death Knight. A loud screech pierced through the graveyard as a continuous beam of radiant energy burst out and blazed into Humphrey’s blue shield. Thankfully, the protective skill lasted slightly longer than the attack.

Theo was already back upon it, his [Novice Strike] clattering his weapons against the stone, doing little immediate damage. He looked… sweaty and tired. Sally had been holding [Curse: Drain] on the golem, but it seemed to be working slower than normal. That was two of their get-out-of-death free skills used up. Theo might have more tricks, but he was liable to break with a couple more deaths.

The radiant arm stayed inert, trying to swat out at the vampire, as the fire and light ones recharged quicker. Fifty percent or so, and rising fast.

“Do we want to remove the arms?” Norah called out, her face an angered scowl at being dragged through the mud a little.

Sally grunted. “No, take a leg.” The arms sounded good, but the more attacks came their way, the fewer chances they’d have to evade.

A pyramid bloomed up from beneath the golem’s foot, putting it off balance. A yellow eye emerged from above the Mummy as multiple bandages shot out and wrapped up the leg lifted into the air. Faint arcs of white electricity flickered down the long spools of linen before the mummified leg fell away into nothing but sand.

Bandages withdrew as the golem then tilted and toppled over.

Bright sunlight encompassed the weapons of the vampire as he crossed them against the other leg. The crack of stone followed, and the golem fell fully on its face against the thick mud, the remaining leg now also severed.

[Meat Hook] sent Sally over, as vines and roots sprung up to hold the arms down against the ground. She landed on the back of its flat head, spinning her staff around before bringing it down into the stone, over and over.

Unable to right itself, there was eventually a pop of magical power, and a sizzle followed the smell of burned ozone. The runes and glowing charges faded away, as the zombie stood over a foot wide hole in the back of the Monster.

“No brain,” she panted, “but they still put the important parts in the head.”

“So dumb,” Theo murmured to himself, trying to chisel his name into the back of the golem.

Fern leaned down and put their roots back into the soil. “How inconvenient.”

Sally tilted her head and sighed. “What now?”

“Multiple footfalls en route, close. Maybe a dozen or more.”