Duke got back to his feet, putting his mind back into “mission mode.” Gazing across the battlefield, he saw that Jablach, Axis, and Aurelia were fighting the wyrmlings. They were still in the initial Enhancer tower’s influence and were doing well enough but were at risk of being overwhelmed as more and more wyrmlings came onto the field. There was a contingent flying above the fray that had paused. Their heads all flashed forward unleashing their breath weapons on the trio.
It happened faster than he could react. One minute they were fiercely fighting the wyrmlings and the next, they were engulfed in soulfire, writing in agony on the ground. He TELEPORTED them to Eihlen even though he was sure the healer couldn’t do anything to help them. But it got them out of range of any more attacks while they writhed in pain.
“Baslin, can your shields stop soulfire?”
“Is that what they are afflicted with? In time, I could make a shield for that but we don’t have that kind of time. The wyrmlings are moving through the towers effortlessly again.”
“Then it’s up to me to stop them.” Duke TELEPORTED to the top of the battlefield and, once again, began a strafing run. This time, he also pulled out all the kobold weapons from his INVENTORY and added them to the attack. Close to five thousand projectiles rocketed towards the approaching wyrmlings. The impact of the projectiles was devastating and more than half of the wyrmlings crashed to the ground, dead or dying. The rest continued their inexorable advance down the road, seemingly picking up speed as they went.
Duke cycled though all his attack Abilities, pouring 100,000 Mana into each in an attempt to find something that got past their resistances. LIGHTNING had no effect. FORCE slowed them down briefly. FLAME, POISON, ACID, ICE, EARTH, and LIGHT were equally ineffective. WIND also slowed the wyrmlings down but none of the attacks seemed to cause any real harm. Duke had two options left and neither was attractive. He could fight them physically which left him open to their soulfire breath weapons or he could use UMBRAL REAPER yet again.
His moment of indecision nearly cost him as the wyrmlings emerged from the Heaven’s Wrath tower having ignored its effects. His decision was made as he decided to not use the Ability he didn’t fully understand and could not yet control. He flew at the flight of wyrmlings, tonfa extended like a wedge before him, hoping he could evade their breath weapons long enough to kill the remaining creatures.
His near immediate acceleration allowed him to slam into the wyrmlings at over four times the speed of sound. The impact created a shockwave throughout the flight of wyrmlings, killing a dozen immediately. Duke’s body was much tougher than it had been when he had tried the maneuver for the first time, but it still caused substantial damage to him. He was barely able to hold onto his tonfa and was certain that he had broken both of his arms in multiple places. Still, he trusted in his REGNERATION as he turned around for another pass.
A thought occurred to him before he charged again, and he attacked with his TELEPORTATION Ability. The strain he felt in his mind as he fought their resistance was excruciating but he bore down and kept pushing. Seconds passed and the first wyrmling succumbed, pieces of it appearing scattered all around the area. The pressure in Duke’s mind lessened by a tiny amount, but that allowed him to push just that tiny amount harder. Then, like a rain-swollen river breaking through a levy, the wrymlings’ resistance began to fail. Another went down, then another, and finally in an overwhelming flood, the rest of the wyrmlings died.
Duke staggered for a few seconds as his headache cleared up before moving up to check on everyone else. The situation was nearly as bad as he feared. All three were still suffering from the effects of the soulfire. Aurelia was sitting and clutching her knees while rocking back and forth. Axis simply stood with his back arched, arms extended, and silently howling at the heavens. While Jablach was simply staring off into the distance, a completely impassive look on his face. Duke looked over to Greslarnier.
“They have suffered soul trauma. They will recover but it will take time. Time, I’m afraid that this dungeon will not give us. I am upgrading the Heaven’s Wrath tower to full, but that may not be enough should another group that can ignore the towers come through. Will you be able to handle it by yourself if they do?”
“You will not face it alone.” Baslin responded. I know these creatures are resistant to magic, but I have been studying them and they are not resistant to physical forces in nearly the same capacity. I will drop boulders on them if I need to, but I will do what I must to protect us all.”
“You are our last line of defense, Baslin.”
“And the defenses are as strong as I can make them. It is time my magic is used for more than sitting back and waiting. None of us have any sort of resistance nor were expecting to have to face soulfire here. It is truly terrifying stuff to deal with – even Greslarnier’s mental magic is useless against it. But I will stand with you and fight these last dozen waves.”
“So be it. We stand together and face them all.”
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“Actually, you stand in front. I’ll be back here.”
Duke couldn’t help but laugh and he felt the tension break in his body as he did so. “Thanks, Baslin. I needed that.”
“Sure thing. Now go down there and kill as many of these things as you can.”
Duke smiled as he took position near the Enhancer tower and prepared for the next wave. He did not have to wait long. It was another wave of wyrmlings. These seemed bigger than the last wave and he reflexively IDENTIFIED them.
*** You have encountered a Lesser Wyrmling. This is a lesser dragon. While not a full dragon at this size and age, this creature has the potential to become one of the most powerful creatures on the planet.
Tier: 4
Level: 80
Health: 775,200
Mana: 820,800
Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells
Weaknesses: Avarice
***
Duke was relieved to see that their size increase was just due to an increasing level. He did note that the levels on the Tier 4 wyrmlings were increasing faster than the previous tiers had. A quick calculation told him that they would max out Tier 4 in less than ten more waves, leaving the last five or so waves as Tier 5 creatures. He was concerned, but he knew that higher-tiers meant higher rewards. And that is something he was looking forward to no matter how much it hurt to get there.
The current wave seemed to ignore the base-level Acid Spitter tower, but that was no surprise. The base-level Armor Breaker tower was similarly as ineffective. The Dragon’s Breath tower seemed to actually affect this group and Duke was happy to see that the Heaven’s Wrath tower was causing significant wounds. But, in the end, none of the towers were enough to stop the wyrmlings’ advance.
Duke prepared to attack as the wyrmlings started to come out of the tower’s field of attack but paused as a rain of boulders fell from above, pelting the wyrmlings continuously. One by one, they were slammed into the ground and pummeled into dissipating mist. And just like that, the wave was cleared.
“Um, Baslin, why have you been holding that back?”
“Because it took me five minutes to cast it. I can cast it again in two waves, but it will be the only thing I can do in the meantime.”
“Oh, that’s perfectly OK. Do that. By all means, do that. I’ll take the next wave on myself.”
“As you wish.” Baslin began casting his Call Meteor spell again.
Duke waited for the next wave to begin but raced around the road, collecting all the broken kobold weapons and scraps of metal he had previously used before it began. He started from the top of the area, preparing for another strafing run since the previous two had been so successful.
The next wave started with the expected horn and Duke readied himself to burst out with his strafing run. What he did not expect was to see was riders on the backs of the even larger wyrmlings. He focused his DUNGEON SENSE to get a clearer picture of what he was facing and saw that it was dragonkin mages riding in saddles on the backs of the now 15-meter long wyrmlings. As they entered the road, mages’ barriers sprung up around each of the wyrmlings. Cursing, he waited until the entire flight was on the path. All 215 of them by his count.
He focused his will and activated TELEPORT to remove the mages from the wyrmlings’ backs. All but two of the mages appeared in the air before him looking startled and panicked before they burst into flames and plummeted downwards, dissipating into mist before they hit the ground. No time to sort that out. Time to attack!
Duke flew downward, changing his tactics slightly. He approached the wyrmlings at just under the speed of sound, feeling the pressure build as he got closer. When he was almost in their breath weapon range, he put on his massive acceleration and emptied his shrapnel cloud from his INVENTORY. As before, he flashed past the wyrmlings, getting behind the entire group in less than a second. There were a few things different about this time, however.
The first difference was that a number of the wyrmlings got off their breath weapons before he acted. The second was that he created a sonic boom right in front of the advancing wyrmlings before releasing his shrapnel-bomb.
These two differences had a dramatic effect. Soulfire washed over Duke as he passed through the advancing wyrmlings causing him absolute agony. At the same time, the shrapnel shredded through scales and wings alike followed by the arrival of the sonic boom’s shock wave. Blood burst from open wounds, causing far greater injuries than just the shrapnel alone had caused.
As Duke suffered from the pain of the soulfire, he struggled to keep his awareness intact, sure that there were still wyrmlings in this wave advancing on his team. Happily, he found that his MENTAL FORTITUDE put up enough resistance to the soulfire’s effects that he was able to move and act. He was sluggish and wouldn’t want to get close enough for another blast of soulfire to hit him, but he could still stay in the fight.
He flew down the road, pursuing the remaining wyrmlings which he saw were ignoring the Heaven’s Wrath tower and nearly at the base structure. His mind raced as he tried to come up with an attack plan. He was still shaky from the effects of the soulfire and was certain he couldn’t force a TELEPORT on them and all his other magical Abilities were things they resisted save for the Ability he was dreading having to use – UMBRAL REAPER.
The remaining sixteen wyrmlings were emerging into the open area before the base and Duke knew he had no choice. He steeled himself for the emotional savagery that was his newest Ability when something strange happened. The wyrmlings stopped advancing and started tearing into each other. Claws and fangs ripped through scales in a frenzy. One rider was bitten in half right off its wyrmling’s back before they joined the fray as well. It was both terrible and wonderful to watch.
Duke continued moving towards the fight, not wanting to get close enough to get hit by a stray blast of soulfire but wanted to get close enough to act if needed. For now he would let the inexplicable fight continue. As he got closer, he looked up to the top of the base tower to see how his team was doing and everything fell into place. Greslarnier was focusing down on the wyrmlings, its eyes glowing bright lavender – the mental mage was making the wyrmlings fight each other.
It took only another minute or two for the last wyrmling to emerge victorious over its brethren. The wyrmling was missing an eye and covered in bloody wounds. Despite its condition, it advanced on the tower, intent on its sole purpose. Duke focused his clearing mind and TELEPORTED its head off. With that, the 40th wave was complete, and Duke once again scrubbed the battlefield for his metal scraps before joining the team back on the base tower.