The shock of what Duke saw below him struck deeply into his core. Hounds were pouring through the breach unabated and despite Thelanos striking with his breath weapon repeatedly, the troops pouring through the Portal were unable to keep up with the sheer numbers. What was worse, was that Hounds were now pouring through the Portal, bypassing the troops trying to engage them.
For a moment, all Duke could do was take in the scene. The Legions had been overrun, reduced to pockets of defenders grouped together desperately struggling against the rising tide of Hounds. A few other pockets of defenders remained but there was nothing organized left.
“If you are going to do something, human, now would be the time”, Thelanos’ massive head rose above Duke’s shoulder with a hot puff of air washing over Duke’s frame. Without a pause for a response, the dragon unleashed a blast of his breath weapon at the Portal, catching more Hounds than defenders but Duke could see the dragon wince every time its breath passed over a defender.
Duke TELEPORTED to a nearby mountain. Once there, he planted and activated the dungeon core he had been building hoping it would be enough, that it would work. It took a full minute for the dungeon to form and become active. In that time, Duke waited, watching his Mana tick back up. His Mana was nearly full when the dungeon entrance appeared.
Straining his Ability to its limits, Duke created the largest Portal entrance he had ever attempted. To make it even worse, he was creating it oriented horizontally rather than the vertical orientation he was used to creating. Finally, he was creating it in an area occupied by creatures and led to a different dimension than it was originated from. This all served to make the creation orders of magnitude harder than any Portal he had created before.
The strain pulsed through his head like a spike driven through his brain. His vision swam and he found himself struggling to remain focused. His Mana plummeted as he pushed his Grandmaster ranked Ability into doing what should be impossible. He could feel wetness dripping from his nose, his ears, and even his eyes as his vision began to shade to red. Subconsciously, he knew that meant that he was suffering from a brain bleed but he trusted his REGENERATION to handle it.
Finally, with a flash of blue light, the Portal forced itself into existence. The crack as the Portal formed blasted outwardly, reverberating across the battlefield. The redness blocking Duke’s vision faded and as his vision cleared, he could finally see the Portal covering the entire dimensional rift. No more Hounds poured into this world but there were still tens of thousands already here.
He paused, projecting his DUNGEON SENSE inside the dungeon and saw that the Portal destination was placed exactly where he had intended. Hounds poured the dungeon by the thousand only to be consumed in SOULFIRE as the dungeon’s specialized atmosphere of its final level did its job. Duke watched for a full minute to make sure the Hounds were not going to escape his trap. Even the larger Hounds were quickly consumed and Duke felt confident he could turn his attention back to the battlefield before him.
With the elimination of the press of Hounds bursting through the dimensional breach, the remaining Hounds paused in their attacks. It was as if they sensed the sealing of the breach and weren’t sure what to do at the moment. The scattered defenders took the pause to gather themselves, renewing defensive spells, and preparing for the next assault.
Thelanos narrowed his breath weapon, striking at the Hounds where there were no defenders. Duke added SOULFIRE of his own to the fight, targeting the Hounds that surrounded the defenders to give them more breathing room. He could see the relief pass through the defenders as the press of the Hounds let up. As he was able to take a closer look at the pockets of defenders, he saw that each was anchored around a pair of mechs.
Duke fired up his communications crystal, “Steel Tusks, what is your status?”
“Duke, it’s been an absolute mess down here. We are holding steady with infantry support, but none of us have more than 20% left in our Mana Cores. The Iron Reaver went over to the other side of the mountains to try and provide some support there but have been out of communications since then.”
“I have sealed the dimensional breach for now. There are no more of the damned things coming in. Can you hold with what you have?”
“If there are no more coming, yeah, we can hold with what we have for a bit longer. An hour at most before we start losing mechs to Mana drain.”
“Got it. I’m going over the mountains to see what the situation is there.”
“Good luck.”
Duke looked over towards Thelanos who interrupted him, “I head it all. Go. I will support those that are still on the ground and maybe Amara will wake back up again so she can aid me.”
With a brisk salute, Duke TELEPORTED back above the staging area. Things were even more chaotic here. The Hounds were shifting back and forth through dimensions freely here and few, if any, were able to effectively fight them. Duke quickly spotted the Iron Reaver lying on its side against one of the cliffsides.
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“Iron Reaver, come in. Do you hear me, Mira?”
He received no response and immediately TELEPORTED to the ship’s bridge, hoping that it was just a communications issue. What he saw disabused him of that notion. The bridge was swarming with Hounds attacking a large glowing sphere. Duke was about to fill the bridge with SOULFIRE but had another idea. He TELEPORTED the Hounds to the SOULFIRE dungeon. For some reason Duke could not discern, there was no resistance from the Hounds, and they disappeared in an instant.
The glowing blue sphere vanished to show Mira and Elder Maw’huk huddled together. Slowly, they extricated themselves looking around for trouble. When they spotted Duke, they both brightened up.
“Duke! Thank the gods you’re here!” Mira rushed over and wrapped him up in a hug.
“I came as soon as I heard that communications were lost. Are you OK and what about everyone else?”
“We’re OK, but I was locked out when we used the emergency seal on the Portal like you showed us. I do not know if any of those horrible things got inside before it was sealed up, but it was just the two of us out here when the monsters overran the ship.”
“What happened? How were the Hounds able to get into the ship?”
“We landed to help evacuate when the Hounds started pouring through the Portal. At first, everyone tried fighting the Hounds but they just tore through our forces. For every Hound that was taken down, fifty of ours died. We got hundreds onboard before the Hounds turned to the ship. We tried to fight them off but there were too many for the ship’s shield to handle. Our last resort was the emergency bridge shield. And then you showed up.”
Elder Maw’huk looked up to Duke as she stood, “Are the Hounds defeated? Has the danger passed?”
“No, not just yet, but I cut off their way into our world. If you can get the ship righted and back into the fight, it will make a difference.”
Mira looked at the ships’ consoles and shook her head before giving Duke a pointed stare.
Duke winced, “Oh, right. Fixing the ship is kinda my thing.” He pushed his Mana out into a RESTORE and the ships’ consoles repaired themselves. He nodded back to Mira, “I’ve got to get back out there. Do what you can.”
Duke TELEPORTED back outside the ship and targeted a group of Hounds for TELEPORTATION to the dungeon. The Hounds resisted, but when Duke poured more Mana into the Ability, were sent away. As he looked for another good set of targets, he saw explosions of magic spreading across the staging area.
As each explosion dissipated, the Hounds that were caught in the explosion staggered around in a daze. The remaining defenders attacked the stricken Hounds without hesitation, desperation radiating from their attacks. Even though the attacks were driven by desperation, they were effective. More and more Hounds started to fall. Duke added his firepower to the final push, raining SOULFIRE down on Hounds as he strafed them.
It took hours more, but the final push ended as the last Hound fell. Defenders looked around themselves in disbelief as they suddenly had no more foes left. None dared to let their guard down until Thelanos burst through the Portal, winging across the field before roaring in triumph. The sound shook the area, lifting the exhaustion from all who had survived. A notification immediately appeared in everyone’s vision:
*** Let it be known that the threat of the Exospace Hounds has been contained and eliminated. You stood against a foe that threatened the entire world of Teldin and have emerged triumphant! Though victory has been achieved, the cost has been high. Six million, four hundred twenty-six thousand, five hundred twelve residents of Teldin gave their lives in this effort. Those that survive shall forever bear the Mark of this defense with all the benefits that come with it. You all stand united today – do not return to the fractious ways of your past. Teldin must stand unified! ***
Duke felt a burning pain erupt on his chest and he tore his shirt open to see what was happening. Before his eyes, the most photo-realistic tattoo he had ever seen formed, covering his entire left pectoral. The tattoo was on Teldin itself as seen from space. It was beautiful and as he watched, he could see the planet slowly rotating. Finally, a golden filigreed border wrapped around the planet and he received another notification:
*** You have gained the Mark of Teldin. This Mark identifies you as a true defender of planet Teldin. You gain the following from your Mark.
* You gain 10% to all your Characteristics while on Teldin
* You gain a 10% bonus to all experience earned while on Teldin
* You gain one additional bonus Characteristic Point for every level gained on Teldin
For being responsible for more than 50% of the invaders’ deaths, your Mark has been upgraded. All affects of your Mark remain in effect regardless of where you are and where you earn your experience and levels. In addition, you are granted the Title Champion of Teldin.
As the Champion of Teldin, you gain the Ability to summon Teldin’s Guardian Spirit, Thelanos to you. Thelanos will fight for you for up to one hour per day. You also gain the favor of all the gods of Teldin. No god of Teldin will act against you as long as you hold this Title. ***
Duke gaped at the rewards. This battle cost so much. I have no idea who, if anyone survived from the Legions. Aurelia is likely dead amongst the more than six million casualties. It’s going to take a long time to recover from this. I gained much personally, but at such a cost – it is most definitely not worth it. Duke’s thoughts were interrupted as another notification appeared.
*** The battle is complete. You have been given credit for killing 328,500 Hounds directly and indirectly. You gain 89,941,228 experience which becomes 98,935,350 with your 10% experience bonus.
You are now Tier 8, Level 1. You have 13,043 Characteristic Points to spend. You have two Tier Advancement Benefits to choose. Your options include:
1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
4. Gain 150 bonus Characteristic Points
5. Gain one powerful item appropriate to your Tier
***
Duke contemplated his choices as he scanned the milling people and creatures below him for familiar faces. He spotted some but not nearly enough. It was difficult to scan through the tens of thousands of survivors in the staging area and he would have to hop over the mountains to even see the true battleground. There’s too much to do and I know my time is short. How short is still a mystery but it can’t be more than a few days. Legion first, I guess.