CHAPTER 233

“That’s harsh,” Michael interrupted, defending Everlyn.

“Is it?” Selena glowered. “She ignored a spell that could turn this battle on its head. I’m not sure that’s forgivable.”

Jane stepped forward protectively. “Back off.”

Tom hadn’t even realised that he along with the other two had shifted into a more aggressive stance and crowded forward into Selena’s personal space.

She didn’t care. Her eyes were alight with passion. “From what I read, Harness Meteorite is almost custom made for this situation, especially if he actually has five charges like she claimed. How the fuck do you forget a spell like that?”

“She admitted fault.” Michael argued. “You don’t have to keep shoving it down her throat.”

Everlyn raised a hand and placed it against Michael’s chest to hold him back. “Easy there. If I’m the battle strategist, I can’t make mistakes like that.”

“See even she agrees.”

“Screw you.” Keikain snapped. “You had no reason to be an arse.”

“I’m being real.” Selena said defensively. “This is not a game. We can’t afford mistakes.”

“She admitted fault,” Michael repeated in frustration. “There was no need to pile in on her.”

“She screwed up.”

“Enough,” Tom commanded, emphasising his words by having electricity crackle around him ominously.

Jane stepped between him and Selena her eyes narrow slits.

Tom glared at the bodyguard then Selena. “We get your point. She got the point. She even acknowledged it, so move on. Let’s stop this pointless bickering and focus on what we have to do.”

“This is why I said we couldn’t work together. You’re amateurs, so maybe this time you can accept some professional advice.” The last bit of the sentence was directed at Everlyn.

“Were you unhappy with the previous plan?” Everlyn asked, still appearing visibly upset, but Tom suspected it was more from her own oversight than Selena piling on.

The boss of the soldiers smiled frostily at Everlyn. “I hardly had all the information.”

“I…have already admitted fault.”

“Let’s move on,” Tom interrupted. “Is there anything you would like to know.”

“So I assume this meteorite spell works by you targeting a spot. It appears in the sky descends and goes bang?”

Everlyn shook her head. “No. It’s far more complicated. For one, it originates from Tom, which is great for this situation. When it launches, it creates heat and force. With these angles, the attack will skip a bit like a stone on a pond. Aimed accurately, he’ll expand the kill area significantly.”

“Straight lines only?”

“Yes.” Tom confirmed. “I have no control once the attack is fired.”

“That lack of control once it leaves the hand and that you need at least a hundred metres for it to become effective are the spell’s primary downsides in most situations. For this battle, that doesn’t matter because…” she looked out across the caves a look of distaste on her face. “We’re fighting goblins. It’s not like they’re going to see the first meteorite and hide out of the line of sight like any sensible person would.”

Selena glanced thoughtfully back at her team. “So the plan has to be to draw as many into the central areas as possible, and then Tom smashes them.”

“Yes,” Everlyn agreed. “Tom, you might as well cast the spell while we discuss specifics.”

“Why now?” Selena asked.

He glanced at her, confused by the basic question. For someone so sharp, the lack of thought she put into some situations surprised him. He breathed in deeply and answered her. “It’s because it’s a mana hog and presumably Everlyn wants me to be at full mana before we engage.”

“Exactly.”

He retreated away from the meeting place to stand on the mana recharge ritual Harry had created without being asked.

Now that he had upgraded the elemental summoner class, he only needed seventy mana from his mana crystal. The days where every cast would completely deplete the crystal were long gone. He looked forward to when he could cast Harness Meteorite purely from his personal reserves. The existing situation where he needed to deplete an item, which at least in the time frame of the battle was not renewable annoyed him. It would not be a problem for long. Another ten levels in his magic class and he would get there.

Tom tuned out the quiet discussion between Selena and Everlyn and focused exclusively on the spell. In short order, the five meteorites started to spin around him.

The war council had broken up, which was not surprising. There was only so much that could be discussed in this situation. They would instigate the fight on their terms and after that they would be reacting. Given their backgrounds, trying to set up a host of contingency plans would almost certainly backfire.

Everlyn sidled up to him. Instinctively ducking one of the spinning stones even though it would never actually strike her. “Thanks for supporting me.”

“Selena was out of line.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe… I still can’t believe I forgot about that spell.”

“I haven’t used it for a while and the last few times it’s hardly been a major success. The wyvern treated the meteorites with disdain.”

“I know…. Still…” She pointed at the soldiers. “Selena’s team is going to initiate the combat. They have a couple of skills that allow them to taunt at a distance. Basically, a summons that they can place in the right areas and they’ll last for half a minute each. She’s going to use them to try to draw all the goblins into the centre corridor and when they are there, you hit them. Before attacking the war lord’s area, use your fate spike on it. If we’re lucky, your meteorite barrage will kill it.” She paused. “This plan is dangerous. We’re going to stir up all of them. We’ll fight here.” She gestured at the entrance to the passage that linked them to the feast hall above. “Worst case is your attack doesn’t kill the warlord and we aggro the whole room. If that happens, we collapse the tunnel and abandon this attempt.”

He nodded. It was a good contingency to have even if it meant losing the lair rewards. “And the rest of the plan remains unchanged?”

“Correct. The only change is how we start the fight, which will hopefully finish it in the first minute.”

Tom smiled at that. Then he glanced at the meteorites rotating around him. At the very least, this would be fun. The first time he had used these on goblins it had obliterated them. This time, the monsters were going to be even more tightly packed. He confirmed he was in the ritual circle and mocked some limbering up exercises. In a minute and a half, his mana would be full, and then they could kick off the attack.

“I hope this works.”

“It will,” Everlyn answered confidently.

Tom abruptly noticed that Selena’s squad was moving toward the middle section.

“Why so early?” he asked in a slightly panicked voice. “I won’t be recharged for over a minute.”

“Don’t stress. I ran the numbers. Once Selena acts, it will take the goblins a fair bit of time to respond and get this far. This is the perfect timing to maximise the destruction potential of your spell because I know it leaks power.”

“Not that fast…”

“But it leaks and your mana is still going to be full in time. It didn’t hurt to time things this way.”

“Of course. You’re right.” He felt more than a little silly at his unnecessary concern. Then he smiled. He was about to bring Armageddon down on the goblins.

Selena’s group reached the split between the two sections. A haze hung over them, which made it difficult for him to see them even though he knew exactly where they were. He forced his eyes to watch them. After a moment, two spells formed and even with over fifty metres separating them he saw the significant release of fate that accomplished them.

Her team was going hard to make the diversion a success.

One of the spells materialised as some form of a bird that flapped upwards toward the cave roof, growing larger as it did so. Within four beats, it was the size of an eagle and every flap accelerated it far more than it should have. With deceptive speed, it arced over the middle section of the cave and then dived at the space right in front of the warlord.

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The other spell glowed red and manifested as a sinister ball of energy that rose above where the soldiers had been standing. The brightness and evil intensified with every second as it drifted up to a height three metres above their head.

There was a flash of light and briefly the space between it and the middle section of the room was connected with a slither of a hell dimension. Then the ball vanished and reappeared dead centre in the middle area. The attacks Tom realised, despite their different methods of deployment had been timed perfectly. The bird landed with a crash that echoed in the cave and immediately transformed into a goose hydra that was slightly larger than an elephant. Simultaneously, that ball of light expanded into an actual portal and a four metre tall demon stepped out of it.

Both of the creatures radiated a presence that Tom could feel from where he stood watching. He had an overwhelming desire to attack them. It was not hard to imagine how the dumber and closer goblins would be affected with that aura challenging them.

Both creatures screamed a challenge to the heavens a taunt that intensified the yearning that Tom felt to go and fight them. There was a collective indrawing of breath across the massive space, and then a wave of fast release magic crashed into the summons. The spell constructs shrugged off the attacks and roared.

The response to the spells Selena’s squad had unleashed was uplifting. There were squawks, screams, war cries, the banging of weapons on shields and then goblins moved from all sides to attack the monsters that had appeared in their midst. The number of green bodies Tom could see doubled within the span of ten seconds as the horrible creatures streamed forward from the outskirts of the room where he couldn’t see them to the centre to bring down the interlopers.

“Hold,” Everlyn ordered.

The atmosphere was charged. The demon seemed to notice something and rather than lashing out with its whip at the goblins crowding it, the creature crouched down into a ball that was still taller than his enemies. It activated some form of an ability and an inferno sprang up around it. Spells, these formed by a shaman with proper destructive intent, as opposed to the initial fast release versions which had been shrugged off, were launched at the creature. They rained down upon the bonfire the demon had converted itself to.

Magic clashed with fire, and the magic was burned up. The spells unravelled and there was a backlash from them that killed dozens of the goblins that had been crowding the demon.

It was a significant amount of friendly fire, but the goblins, of course, would not care about anything like that.

The hydra goose took a different approach.

It actively fought against the goblins. Its heads would flash forward and deliver blows to the surrounding chieftains that were powerful enough to cause them to stumble. While chieftains could resist, the same could not be said for the lesser monsters. One of the heads put a hole in a hob that got too close. The power relativities of the summons were out of whack with Selena’s group level, but Tom remembered that release of fate and the squad’s philosophy. They had obviously lucked out and got a summons far beyond themselves. One which was strong enough to go head to beak even with the high ranked chieftains.

It was not one-way traffic. Weapons struck and magical missiles landed. Tom saw one head get blown away and a moment later two more manifested to replace it. The sequence of events he witnessed was not possible. Those new necks and heads had just appeared. They had not been grown. It broke multiple laws of physics and made his head hurt.

The creatures fought the goblins.

Closer to him the demon stood to its full height and its massive axe went through about twenty goblins, but did no noticeable damage.

“Hold,” Everlyn warned him her eyes focused on what was happening.

The war lord attacked the hydra goose. Its twin axes flashing forward and a size skill activated.

There was a flash.

When he blinked, the light away, a third of the hydra goose’s heads were gone.

They did not grow back.

“Get ready.” Everlyn ordered. “Target twenty metres this side of the demon. Fire now.”

Tom followed the instruction and one of the stones orbiting him suddenly curved high over his head and then shot forward. He was standing in the entrance tunnel effectively three metres above the floor of the majority of the cave. The extra height was vital to allow the missile to grow, and as it shot away the magic of his spell took hold. It grew bigger, hotter, and redder.

When it hit… Tom could remember the other times he had used this spell. At the point of impact, it would be over two metres across and possess the destructive capacity, not of a high-speed car crash, but closer to a freight train.

“Next the boss.” Everlyn said quietly restoring his focus.

He switched his attention to the far end of the cave and saw that the hydra goose was gone. There wasn’t even remnants left behind and the boss stood triumphally amongst a crowd of other powerful goblins.

He shot the fate spike at it. Unlike the meteorites, the intense energy left his hand and crossed the distance between him and the target almost instantly. He didn’t need to watch the effect, as it was always the same. Instead, the moment he used the ring he focused on the spinning rocks around them and redirected the best positioned. It spun over his head and accelerated toward where the warlord stood.

It streaked away, growing with every metre.

“Hit the warlord again.”

Mid instruction, there was an almighty crash, and the floor shook. The first meteorite had struck the ground and exploded into molten fragments.

He only got a glimpse of the destruction. A hob torn in two, another one engulfed in liquid flames. The third he registered was some sort of magic user using a defensive shield to save its life. Its shield flared with power and resisted the chunk of molten rock that was the size of a beach ball for a moment. The shield bowed inwards and then burst. Most of the momentum of the fragment had been expended, and it flew forward and crashed onto the ground at the creature’s feet. The creature looked proud of itself, and then the fragment burst in a flood of liquid rock that coated the lower legs of the goblin. It fell screaming in agony. All those examples had only been for monsters at the periphery of the impact.

Those closer had been obliterated instantly.

Tom winced and sent the third meteorite at the boss.

“Hold.” Everlyn ordered.

He did exactly that and watched his second meteorite interested in how the warlord would deal with it. The threat of the chunk of rock hurtling at it did not escape the monster’s attention, but nor did it seem to create any form of alarm. Rather than dodging it casually threw one of its axes at the stone. There was a swell of magic and the axe struck the huge ball of rock. The stone, all fifty plus tonnes of it, was split in half with the two chunks deviating to crash pass on either side of the warlord.

A satisfied smile filled its ugly face. Even as the majority of its minions that were flanking it were crushed and destroyed.

“Hit the boss again.” Everlyn said calmly.

Tom sent the fourth one on its way. The target hadn’t moved, so he didn’t adjust his aim. The next meteorite aimed at the warlord was rapidly approaching. With the same unhurried movements, the war lord threw his second axe. The same twist of magic occurred, and the stone was once more split smoothly in two. This time, the halves hit the now dented floor and did not slide like the first set of halves and instead they exploded.

A number of chunks deflected inwards and bounced off the warlord’s chest.

There was pandemonium around the boss. Multiple chieftains were dead. In fact, Tom wasn’t sure if any of them were still alive.

The warlord roared in triumph, having weathered both attacks.

Then the monster spotted the third incoming meteorite. Tom expected it to run now that it was out of axes. Instead, it waited an extra half a second before, with casual arrogance, pulling back its arm to punch the incoming rock.

Tom’s mouth almost dropped open.

He couldn’t understand what the creature was thinking. He witnessed the impact of the blow before he heard it.

Cracks appeared on the back of the red hot rock and then the entire thing shattered. Broken apart by the force of the attack, however, unlike with the axe, the pieces did not spread. Instead, they kept going forward in a jumbled mess. Some of the momentum must have been taken out of the mass of stone by the punch, but not a significant percentage.

Physics still held a small amount of sway and it was fifty tonnes against something probably weighting less than two hundred kilograms. The punch had an effect but could not halt the momentum.

The remnants of the meteorite went through the boss. It was like a biblical strike: the area where the warlord had been standing was scoured clean.

Tom winced. Trying to punch the threat away had not been the right solution.

There was a ding. Without checking, he knew what had happened.

The warlord was gone.

Then the sound of the punch reached him. It was loud enough that the goblins that were still alive that had been running around trying to pretend to be looking for a target all froze at the noise.

Heads turned toward where the warlord was, or at least had been. Tom suspected that with that single look they realised that the fight was over.

“Good job.” Everlyn said tightly. “For the last one we want to get down to ground level and I want you to shoot flat and aim for there.” She pointed at the narrow section. “Bounce it off the wall to spread the destruction as far as possible.”

Tom nodded and sprinted down until he reached the actual floor. Everlyn had been right about all the timings. The goblins were so disorientated by the sudden destructive attacks that none were coming near them yet.

“Wait.” Everlyn ordered. She had not descended with him and instead had stayed high up in the exit tunnel so she could keep an accurate view of what was happening. Their brief peace was over. Some of the goblins, probably by chance, had found them. A scattering of them were running through the gap between their section and the next.

“Selena intercept. Keep clear of Tom’s firing range. He’ll be aiming for the left wall that splits the sections.”

Crack.

An arrow struck the goblin furthest from Selena’s team.

She kept firing and the soldier squad moved forward on the right. The majority of the creatures fixated upon them and closed with the professional fighters. Burnt, wounded and dazed goblins were dispatched with brutal efficiency.

No magic was needed for what was effectively trash, so none was used. They let them get close and then utilised their shields to blunt the goblin attacks and then superior weapons and team work to butcher them.

“Hold Tom.”

Crack.

He did as instructed and was not sure what she was waiting for but there was obviously something she had seen that she wanted to exploit.

More of the goblins came. Not enough to be a threat, but the rest of his team moved up next to him.

“Hold Tom.”

Selena was taking out most of the goblins, but some were getting past her and running at them. Toni and Keikain grimly took care of them.

“Okay Tom. Launch.”

He did as instructed and the final meteorite shot away parallel to the ground.

As it flew, it grew and got hotter.

Then it smashed against the wall.

There was a boom, and it shattered, disintegrating into thousands of fragments with the pieces bouncing away at almost the same pace as the stone had struck the wall with.

The chaos created was magical instead of producing a two metre wide pathway of destruction the fragments scythed through the goblins in a debris field with a width closer to fifteen metres. Not everything in the storm of destruction died. There were spots where none of the deadly fragments crossed, but most creatures caught in the area perished.

Everlyn whooped in excitement. “Perfect.” She laughed. “So good. Selena retreat. Let’s hold our defensive positions as planned.”

There was no argument from Selena even while fighting goblins, her squad marched smoothly backwards to take the agreed spot close to the exit to let them flee if needed. It was no longer required. They all knew that, but it was a prudent plan, so they stuck with it.

Tom pushed forward in front of his team and started to fight. The goblins came in a steady stream, but there were no chieftains to worry about and almost no specialists. Between their two teams and the manic way the goblins were acting having lost their warlord, it was not a fight it was a slaughter.

The last one died.

Selena glanced his way. “Nice spell. Glad I got to see it.”