Chapter 87 - The Fost Compound Siege (Part 1)

“Chekz…” one man muttered nearby with sweat beading along his forehead. His hands shook nervously and then clenched in determination as eyes fell on him. “We need to get out and help our comrades! Friends, get your arms and come with me!”

Chekz. One of the three major guilds in Teretog, one of the three powerhouses that ruled this city. Trey felt rather than saw his own face pale. If they had truly come to fight Fost even at the loss of many of their own… Fost was doomed.

He whirled around as the last of his customers raced out of the room to find their weapons and armor. Napoleon, Toady and the two minotaurs were all ready to go and waiting for his orders - while Telipe stood by nervously shaking. Napoleon handed him the box of money and Trey whisked it away into shadowform, giving the imp and demihuman girl he was perched on a quick nod.

“We need to get out of here.”

Cries from the prostitutes erupted as they began to panic, all of them except for the lone man converging on him to riddle him with questions on what they should do.

As if Trey had a good answer for them, but the looks of terror made him at least give an attempt - and he motioned to the crates around the room. “Stay here and hide in the boxes for now if you don’t want to chance it. I’ll come and get all of you afterwards.”

“We won’t survive here in Teretog on our own!” a young redheaded woman said, her voice breaking into a whimper as her lips trembled. “Please don’t leave us!”

“They’ll kill us if they find us here!” Another prostitute said, beginning to hyperventilate as her wide eyes darted over to the door where more screams were erupting amidst the clash of battle. “Chekz are an evil guild! They will sell us for body parts! It has already happened to my friend when we were first sold into the market here!”

With that last comment, the women flew into states of hysteria until Napoleon snapped his fingers and screeched at them. “GET GET IN CRATES!”

Ugh.

Trey didn’t look back to see what they chose to do as he rushed out of the room, into the chaos of the Fost guild compound.

The structural support beams were still standing but a piece of the wall had caved in where catapults had launched large boulders into it. There were people battling each other at the choke point, fighting one another in a blitzkrieg of death with sprays of blood, metal, arrows and magic going back and forth.

As expected, the enemies trying to push forward wore the yellow tunic uniforms of guild Chekz.

“FORWARD! DON’T LET THEM IN!!!” Radian screamed over the din of fighting. He held one mangled arm, his usually proud and confident face distraught and fearful. The guild leader was surrounded by comrades as he tried pushing through to get to a healer - but Fost was losing ground due to the element of surprise. Being caught unaware and unprepared had taken a significant toll on the defenders who’d managed to rush to the breach in time, as some of their reinforcements were still just waking up.

It only took Trey half a second to realize this was not winnable. There were too many enemies on the other side of the wall’s breach. Within minutes Chekz would have pushed through... but that didn’t mean Trey couldn’t buy his friends time to find a way out.

“Napoleon, get all-”

A projectile from Izumi’s cannon tore down from the second level and shredded through four lightly armored Chekz soldiers like they were paper, stopping at the fifth man to leave a huge dent in the warrior’s heavy breastplate. It did, however, send that last guy flying back into his comrades behind.

The rest of Trey’s friends were already ready to get things rolling.

Rivia was only half dressed topside - infernal halo gleaming above her head - when she planted her staff and summoned a field of agony; turning the ground black in all directions and causing dark damage while simultaneously inflicting pestilence onto three unfortunate victims. The plague began to spread like wildfire, especially with her ability to cast so quickly now that the halo she had tripled her speed, but it was quickly dissipated as one of the old Chekz priests used an area of effect cleanse to cut Rivia’s miracle away. Stubborn, she cast another pestilence miracle this time further back and more spread out between her three targets, and it soon became a war of attrition between the enemy priest and her as he scrambled to put out her pestilence before it spread beyond his capabilities of curing. Cursing and activating her staff’s ability ‘Empower Miracle,’ Rivia finally was able to get the upper footing and start doing some real damage as 12 targets all simultaneously took to rotting pestilence lesions that were scattered across the crowd.

Empower Miracle: Choose a miracle to empower and amplify that

miracle’s effect by 100%. If it is a Dark miracle, amplify it by 300%. Long

cooldown.

Trey summoned his greatsword and bent down to Napoleon, nearly having to shout above the carnage and roar of battle. “Get the others ready to leave, this is not a fight we can win.”

The imp nodded and scurried up the stairs past more Fost reinforcements heading down.

Trey ordered his two minotaurs into the fray, willing to sacrifice them to buy the others more time and commanded Toady to begin picking off people from the backlines. His two enormous demon cows roared with approval at a chance to spill blood and charged forward, flinging some of the defenders out of their way to barrel into, crush, and slice at the smaller human attackers. Trey briefly watched as the satisfying screams met his ears to deathblows from the towering forms of Fat-Daddy and Cow-Daddy. Then he saw Cow-Daddy activate his ‘Enrage’ ability, increasing his fighting abilities and giving large black minotaur a dull red glow as he crushed a man with his warhammer and bellowed out a ‘battle shout’ sacred art that intimidated all of the offending attackers.

But Trey didn’t have time to dawdle, even if he really wanted to just watch his minions wreak havoc. He looked up and shadowstepped to the next level, right next to where Atharost had just appeared to let loose a myriad of firebolts alongside his tiny fire elemental.

Trey stepped up next to Ashe who was taking aim at the flood of bodies pouring into their home and screamed over the fray into her ear. “WE NEED A WAY OUT!”

She gave him a brief fearful glance. “I DON’T KNOW OF ONE!”

Trey was about to shout back a response - but his eyes widened as Juila’s tall red figure leaped over the railing and to the level below. She landed with a crash two dozen yards away, without a trace of fear, and crushed a heavily armored knight like he was a paperweight under her hooves. Completely naked with her lean muscles contracting, she picked up a man-at-arms and tore his head off in a spray of blood with her bare hands - and in an effortless, single motion.

“Holy shit.” Trey muttered, watching as she joined the two minotaurs - picked up a large maul from a fallen soldier - and devastated two other men in a brutal strike. Her movements were unrefined and she took hit after hit, but she was a powerhouse and didn’t seem phased in the least by any of the piercing strikes or searing magics that struck her. Blood began to erupt from the open wounds of her screaming enemies en masse - literally being ripped from their bodies and absorbed into her own while her blood aura began to sap the life from anyone she or the minotaurs hit to heal their wounds just as fast as they received them.

Blood Price (Aura): Juila now has a passive blood aura that slowly leeches life off any enemies who have open wounds within 50 yards. Excess health absorbed beyond her maximum HP is applied as temporary defensive bonuses. Small amounts of leech life are also applied to physical strikes of any sort for herself and any party-bound allies within Aura’s radius.

Not only was she outperforming the two deadly and much higher-level minotaurs to her right and left, but she was taking the lead by miles.

Trey exchanged a glance with Ashe. “I underestimated that evolution stone.”

“Your minion Juila has gained 2 levels in the skill Blunt Weapons. Your minion Juila has gained 1 level in Hand to Hand combat. Your minion Juila has gained 1 overall combat level.”

But back to the matter at hand - they needed to get out. He seriously doubted that they had a shot at winning this, even if his minions were currently putting in work. Chekz was no push over, and no doubt they’d sent in their weakest members first.

So their predicament was this: the walls of this structure were reinforced with enchantments. Trey seriously doubted that he’d be able to pour enough mana to even knock down one of the walls even using Talsh’Noc’Un’s obliterate ability and didn’t want to waste the attack on a failed attempt when it could be a lifesaver later. Even the balcony of their apartment had heavy metal bars encircling it like a cage which were enchanted with magic to keep people out... and they too would prove very hard to break through. Breaking down that wall was a real testament to how much firepower Chekz had unleashed with its barrage, and if Trey had to guess - he would assume that was the sole place those catapults focused down.

Then there was also a good chance that Chekz had their compound surrounded.

Trey could shadowstep out himself and leave the others, but that wasn’t a real option for him. He wouldn’t abandon them. They could try to fly out, but Atharost would have to carry them one by one and he may get shot down. They could try to break through the roof… the roof was certainly in poor shape but had a dome of barriers constructed over it to keep living creatures or high velocity projectiles out. Would Atharost's flight speed allow the ifrit through the dome without taking away precious minutes of slow-drifting while the fighting continued? Would the dome barrier even let Atharost back in? Even if it did, would Atharost become a target and an eventual pin-cushion as he tried to slow-drift back through it under the barrier’s speed constraints?

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No. Flying out was not a valid option.

Trey yelled over the din at the rest of them. “DOES ANYONE HAVE AN IDEA FOR A WAY OUT!?”

He got several looks of despair, but no answer. Atharost, Izumi, Ashe, and Boxamoth all just kept firing what projectiles they had. Long story short, they were trapped in a rat’s nest with the cat coming for their guts. They had no choice but to fight.

Shadow Blades (Dark) - Level 2

* Unleash sharpened blades of shadow at your enemy.

* NOTICE: Your shadowform decreases mana cost for this ability by 80%

Trey whirled around in frustration and anger, screaming as he unleashed a flood of his own dark magic out at the incoming enemies below. Dozens, then hundreds and then over a thousand of the black semi-elliptical shadow blades tore off from his body in waves and crashed into the enemy ranks.

The Chekz warriors quickly put up their shields and had barriers erected from behind to stop the hail of madness coming their way, but by the time they got an effective defense up: Trey'd already killed at least a dozen men.

“You have gained XP. You have gained 2 levels in the skill Shadow Blades.”

Yet more were still piling in over the tops of their dead.

Izumi let off another round from her cannon, but it lodged itself in one of the white holy barriers projected overhead of the incoming wave. Atharost’s fire too was being deflected, and now the madhouse of tug-of-war was being waged on a single two-dimensional playing field where warriors on the ground faced one another in close combat.

Trey snapped his fingers at his ifrit. “Atharost, create a firestorm directly over our heads.”

The greater class demon looked back incredulously. “Over our heads?”

“That’s what I said! The barrier on the roof will protect us but the area of effect is much larger. It’ll force the backline to redirect the barriers and you can place a wall of flames in the breach! Send these bastards to hell and do it now!”

Atharost nodded in understanding and began to form the spell. The last time he’d used this spell it’d taken out the palace of Yosemar along with an entire city block in the country’s capital. The tier 2 fire spell began to take form as the ifrit’s body levitated upwards and burst into flame. Rings of fire encircled Atharost and began to spin or rotate, connecting with one another until it had become a single whirling sphere of flame engulfing him.

It took a little longer to prepare than Trey’d thought, but it wasn’t too long. Toady was snatching up and eating people who made it past the defensive line like it was playing whack-a-mole with its tongue, and his two minotaurs were still very much alive. Cow-Daddy was still roaring gleefully and swinging around his warhammer, having over 600 HP and Fat-Daddy had a little over 420 but they were both fluctuating between Rivia’s heals and the damage they received.

“Your minion Juila has gained 3 overall combat levels.”

And then… there was Juila - who had gone from being nothing but a slam piece… to turn into the death machine that he saw below him now. He’d been ignoring the All Spirit’s notifications, but upon glancing at her basic stats in his HUD… he was awestruck to see how much she’d already leveled up after only a single fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Simplified Status Page

Name: Juila

Race: Sacrificial Lamb, Unique Demon

Class: None

Level: 12 (+11 skill points, +55 stat points)

HP: 1067/1380

MP: 50/50

SP: 791/1130

DP: 1/1

Skills: Blunt Weapons^ (lvl. 16), Hand to Hand Combat^ (lvl. 15),

Sacrifice of Shadows (Dark Ability)(lvl. N/A),

My Life for Master (Blood Ability)(lvl. N/A)

Traits: Everlasting Bond, Dark Fortitude, Unholy Prowess, Blood Price (Blood Aura),

Trey Bon’s Minion

Magical Attributes: Dark, Blood

Opinion of you: Devoted

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bodies were dropping like ragdolls as the tall, unkillable demoness rampaged through the enemy ranks below. She was even becoming a primary target for the majority of the backline trying to get through the choke point in the wall, but she just simply wouldn’t die.

Dark Fortitude (Trait): All physical damage taken by Juila is reduced by 70%. All

magic damage taken by Juila is decreased by 5%. All pain is reduced by 30%.

Her innate defensive buffs were utterly insane, causing many of the arrows, blades, and magics to leave minimal if any damage for every time they struck home. Coupled with the pain resistance and the huge amount of HP she had now, Juila was literally laughing as she ripped off arms, effortlessly threw screaming and heavily armored men over her head into the crowd, and crushed skulls beneath her borrowed maul or hooves. She was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being truly powerful for the first time in her entire life, and her pink eyes were dilated wide in the excitement. Ribbons of red liquid tore out of exposed wounds to drain the life of dozens of enemies all around her, quickly sealing her own wounds shut just as fast as they came - and coating her red skin in a crimson glow whenever her HP capped as her excess absorption gave her an even further enhanced defensive buff. And with every successful physical attack she made, she’d get even more life-steal after a brief, dull flash of crimson upon contact - a more minor buff that she shared with all her partied allies including the two nearby minotaurs.

What the actual fuck was this? Watching her go to town with literally zero previous combat experience prior to now, Trey was not only shocked and amazed - but seriously reconsidered whether or not they could win this fight after all. The only problem… was that the rest of the Fost response was not doing nearly as well.

“Trey!”

He turned at Piggy’s voice, seeing both her and Telipe only a couple feet from him and looking over the rail with anxiety and horror etched into their faces.

Trey angrily launched a series of Chaos Balls into the mix, most of them being negated by barriers overhead but some of them pushing through and smashing into enemy lines with sprays of metal and body parts. Two other wizards along the second story cheered his efforts and blasted the temporary lapse in defense with their own lightning and psychic magics - wreaking havoc amongst the heavily armored front line of Chekz fighters before one of them was taken out with an arrow from the breech. The mage went over the railing silently, falling to the ground a story below with a sickening crunch and an arrow embedded in his left eye.

Trey turned back to his two non-combat thralls and led them away from the railing to speak with them. Putting a hand on Piggy’s shoulder Trey glanced back and welcomed the opportunity to let his mana recharge. He’d burned through most of it already after casting so many offensive magics and was sitting at an uncomfortable 13/214 MP. At least he’d taken out a good amount of those bastards with the effort.

“Piggy, do you have your things gathered? Did Napoleon tell you to pack up?”

Piggy nodded anxiously. She wore a traveler’s outfit they’d bought for her not too long ago prior to leaving for Ornthas and her cooking supplies were all gathered up in a sack. “I’ve also gathered Rivia’s things, and Ashe’s… the stuff they left behind when they rushed to get out. I heard we might be leaving?”

From far above them in the sky and through the parts of the rooftop that still needed repair, a swirling vortex of fire began to form and then expand. Orange and yellow light filled the night sky as elemental clouds of flame thundered to life and began to pour down their hatred onto the landscape below.

As the comets of fire rocketed downwards in a rainstorm of burning hate, Atharost’s sphere of fire dissolved and the ifrit returned to touch down on the wooden second floor.

Trey chuckled as he heard the screams of disbelief from outside and doublechecked just to make sure the Fost compound’s barrier overhead was holding out against the onslaught. To his relief, it was.

He redirected his attention back to piggy where she was nervously fumbling with a small knife and clasped his hands with hers. “You’re going to be alright. I’m dismissing you and Telipe to the nether realms… even if I die, you’ll still have another day or two until the nether realms send you back. You should be safe from the onslaught until then.”

The elf began to speak again but was silenced as he pushed a finger to her lips. “If I don’t make it and you are returned here from the nether, you need to find another summoner to take you on. You’ll die without a contract. You need to tell them about your potential ideal as ‘Summoner’s pet’ and sell them how useful it can be. Do you understand?”

Tears began welling up in her green eyes and she stifled a sob, but nodded. “I understand.”

He glanced towards Telipe. “Same goes for you. An enchanter shouldn’t have a hard time selling their usefulness.”

The blonde demihuman woman stared stone-faced back at him, but he could tell by the way her chest heaved up and down, and the way that the hair along her tail stood on end, that she was very scared.

Stepping back and noting that his mana had recharged only two dozen points, he silently cursed and began to dismiss Piggy to the Nether realm. A pentagram of red eerie light traced itself underneath her feet and encircled her. Holding her sack of belongings close to her chest, she shed a few tears as her body evaporated into the nether.

The door flung open from behind where Telipe stood in chains, waiting for her turn to be sent away. Jason had come out and he tossed Trey three mana potions along with a health potion and rushed past, distributing potions out to each of the other members of their squad.

“I have more! Chug them now and blow them to fuckin smitherines!” Jason turned heel and raced back, his mace bouncing against his side as he ran and vanished back into his room.

Minor Mana Potion

Item Tier: (3) Crude

Bonuses: none

Requirements: none

Durability: 20/20

Special: Recover 40 MP over 60 seconds

Trey couldn’t hide his smile as he watched his frenemy leap to their assistance in a time of need. Trey popped the cork of one of the mana potions and began to chug. Then he chugged the other two back to back, giving him 120 mana points of recovery over 3 minutes.

As the blue liquid touched his lips and slid down his throat for the final time, Jason came with another batch and set them out in crates. Trey gave him a thumbs up in thanks.

“Telipe, you ready?”

The wolf-girl nodded hurriedly. “Please send me.”

Thirty seconds later and Telipe had vanished too with a pentagram around the place where she’d been standing. As the red light of the pentagram faded in turn, Trey’s mana points had taken a serious climb. Then he went back to the rail to see just how badly the fight was going.

To his massive amount of surprise, the fighting had evened out. With seven other heavily armored defenders fighting alongside Juila and the two minotaurs - who were leading the spearhead of the resistance. In particular, it was Juila. The demoness was an unstoppable rage machine that shimmered red in the dull light as she smashed people with her maul, picked people up and launched them across the room, or shattered their skulls with her horns. She did not stop as she bellowed and roared, constantly getting healed by both her own innate traits and aura - as well as Rivia’s healing miracles.

“Is there a fight going on!?”

Trey glanced back towards the new voice just as he had prepared another chaos ball, and his nerves were immediately set on edge.

Reiklin had just woken up. The young redheaded man must’ve been one hell of a deep sleeper because he was still rubbing his eyes. Trey’d completely forgotten about him, so his irritation was not only directed towards Reiklin but also directed towards himself.

Reiklin raced forward and his eyes widened at the carnage below, pulling his face back as another arrow whizzed by and a second arrow incinerated with a sheet of flame produced by Atharost.