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-This night is the worst...
Caroline feels like crap, and she's hungry. Running a tired hand through her tangled hair she shakes off earth and grit that got into them, and watches the burning undead disappear underground - where it belongs. She's exhausted and her mana is dangerously low... But they may actually be able to survive this. Somehow.
Caroline never considered herself a pessimist but thing were turning pretty bad. -Didn't feel so drained since the war in the north ended and we left the military.
At first she believed that the situation was mostly under control, since for such a small hamlet the walls are surprisingly tall and sturdy - yet just like the damned goblinoids up north, the cursed bones just kept coming. Then the palisade was broken by this monster, and everything devolved into chaos. Marcus once again saved them all back there; taking on the giant undead by himself, and proving he is not that rusted yet, no matter how much he likes to complain about about his age. -Damn it Mike, you survived that orc's axe just to...
-Another old team member gone. We can grieve later, after this whole mess is done with. There are still skeletons roaming outside.
When she saw their ex sergeant hit the wall she thought everything was over, and that they were all going to die. With her fire mostly useless against the cold aura emanating from the cursed thing, she couldn't help but imagine the worst.
Caroline briefly looks back at their employer who came out from the inn earlier, and then returns her gaze to the demon. The summoning saved them and she is glad for that - but still laid out to him what she thinks about the practice of inviting hell into their world. -Damn it all, this was supposed to be an easy job —a simple caravan escort, what could go wrong?
A lot.
With narrowed eyes, as its flames were blinding, she studies the red demonic creature covered in flowers and coiling thorns. -You can't trust those things, even when bound they will try to cause chaos. The old veteran is able to handle its gift, but he is visibly struggling. That sweat over his brows doesn't all come from just the exhausting fight; his jaw is clenched tight, muscles tense as he grips the weapon - yet another reason she wanted to coax him into joining their group. The man has the nerves of steel and iron discipline.
"You alright, sarge?"
"—It's fine. This isn't so bad, just annoying honestly." If he says so. She trusts someone like him would tell her if he suddenly felt the urge to start murdering everyone.
It seems they've won.
Those dark, vine-like tendrils retreated back inside as it lands back on the road after turning the giant skeleton into cinders. Caroline isn't sure what manner of demon they have here with them, and the merchant wasn't of any help in figuring that out. Her experience with the creatures was minimal but she heard enough, most important part is to know what you are dealing with. -She hates tentacle monsters.
That this guy was able to summon such a strong being and in such a short amount of time, really surprised her. She was sure the man was harmless - looks can be deceiving.
"What is it?" The red demon isn't very tall - short even, but she saw its power, and it is a shapeshifter. -Very troublesome. "Get ready, we are not done yet. An even bigger bugger is headed this way." For a moment it looks at Marcus with a satisfied smile on its inhuman face, then turns back to the gate. A wall of stone now keeping the undead at bay.
What is it planning with—
Her thoughts froze when she glimpsed a huge reptilian head appear above the entrance to the hamlet, the flaming wreckage left after the demon's rampage providing just enough light. Dead, clouded eyes are looking down at the courtyard. She felt that strange anger once again emanate from below, as if the land itself was offended by the creature's existence. -There are spirits here and they are angry. Her heritage-
Then it took a step forward and the rock crumbled under the sheer mass of the abomination - opening the way for the rest of the undead horde. -This is super bad.
Caroline refocused and started to move back towards the injured, eyes never leaving the new enemy. It wasn't dead for very long, black blood is still seeping from the wounds covering the behemoth. Many scales are damaged or missing and the shell was cracked in multiple places, with a giant axe still lodged inside on the right side, now stuck in the armor plates and giving off a cold aura that causes frost to build up - thankfully its owner is nowhere to be seen.
One of the thick legs was almost chopped off and the creature has trouble walking, but that doesn't make much difference for them. There is nowhere to run as they've been surrounded.
After the demon showed up she hoped that she might still be able to save her mana potions - those things are damn expensive. But that is no longer an option; as the first skeletons already started to emerge from the once again breached wall, Caroline opened her first bottle.
"By the gods—! That's Gamera!" At that startled shout from behind, Caroline glances back to see the old wife of the innkeeper - now standing next to the merchant, covering her shocked face with one hand, her eyes wide and full of disbelief. "T- They— they've killed it..." Sorrow filled voice causes a commotion among the locals.
"Impossible—"
"That poor old monster..."
"What is that creature?" The young merchant— Jarred was his name? -asks a good question. He Is deathly pale; likely unsure if his demon can even handle such a beast. -That's not a good sign.
"The guardian beast of the swamp. It– it was a friendly creature, not at all evil." The woman explains with tears in her eyes. "People say it— *sob, protected the marsh. I—" Breaking down, the old lady doesn't finish her story and just runs back to the inn. A horrible realization strikes Caroline and she gulps the potion in one go.
-Well that's just great. Those undead hordes aren't satisfied with raiding settlements anymore - looking for whatever, they now started killing and reanimating local monsters...
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A giant turtle zombie busted its way through my stone wall and into the village. It looks fresh. —Hmm, or is it a tortoise? I don't remember the difference. A big chunk of the palisade soon also falls, as the monstrous thing is simply huge - the size of a small house, allowing the rest of the undead horde to follow inside.
-So we meet again... Although I can't be sure if it is the same creature as back then; its death likely wasn't fast judging by all the damage and the undead did a number on it. The left side of its scaly head was caved in, likely by a big hammer. There is no longer any foliage or flowers growing on the now damaged and cracked shell. -A damn shame. I don't recognize it anymore, as undeath wasn't easy on its appearance, but how many giant turtles could actually live out there in the swamp? -Well, it would be kind of sad if there was only one...
I was almost ready to panic when I saw it coming out on the road, until Identify showed me something really odd.
I'm listening to the conversation happening behind while weighting my options, the Rod of Control heavy in my hand.
"Gamera, so that was your name..." I whisper under my breath. We can feel the anger of the elemental growing.
I can't really recharge something as complicated as this magic item - not without some serious study, and there aren't many charges left. Still this a perfect opportunity to test it out. Choices...
The zombie is pathetically slow and clumsy, we could easily run from it. Even the mortals could; if the people here were ready to move out. But I guess that isn't in the cards for them and I'm not leaving without some answers.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
We need something to distract it, its speed might be ridiculous but the sheer size of the monster is a problem by itself.
I give it one last glance.
> Giant Zombie* (17)
Yea, I'm not buying it. There is no way a creature of this size would have such a low level - on the other hand, this could explain why it seems to be struggling just to move its massive body. The one we've met back then was in late 30's.
I wonder why the Frost giant kept both its Race and Class - or at least part of it, and this thing didn't. I really know very little about necromancy.
The old soldier is standing just behind me, he twirls the spear we lent him and gets ready for the fight as the skeletons started to charge at us. -Yea we will need something bigger to stop this thing from trampling the inn, and to buy me some time to figure out how to take it down.
Decision made we slam the simple iron rod into the ground, pushing all the mana we've gathered from the surroundings through the enchantments and overcharging them—
A massive mystical formation appears on the paved road in front of us; glowing bright blue, it illuminates the incoming undead. The light raises up, and mana seeps into the earth.The magic contained in the item we looted from the Genie is ready to do its job.
But I'm waiting for one extra ingredient, this is an opportunity after all...
-Come on you lazy bastard, we can tell you are angry, so get inside! I can feel you want to kill this thing - was it your old friend? This is your chance. It is going to wreck your shrine anyway—
Hurry up and make your choice.
The earth trembles! Many people and undead both lose their footing and fall down. There is a lot of shouting and the zombie of the swamp's guardian stumbles wrecking more of the wooden wall.
The ground heaves and cracks! as a giant golem raises from the now madly spinning magic circle. -Damn this thing is big. The earth elemental jumped at the opportunity of getting a physical body and merges with the magic of the rod. Honestly, we've pumped a lot of mana into the thing with Overcharge but the effect still exceeded my expectations. At six meters tall with long thick arms, the bulky almost humanoid form of earth and stone should be more then able to offer some assistance in stopping the turtle.
It is eager... so I let them fight.
Rose is also all excited so we soon follow the charging Earth Golem; each of its steps shaking the area, massive arms casually smash the skeletons in its path like they were toys, broken bones flying to the sides - it actually runs on all four like a gorilla. Swirling patterns decorate the wide frame, glowing in blue light.
A spell comes from behind and I'm surprised at seeing a wall of flames cover the destroyed portion of the wall, cutting of any undead reinforcements. -Heh, that woman with funny hair still had some tricks up her sleeve. It cost her a lot, but the potion she took is still in effect and filling her up.
Nifty trick— using a potion that gives you more mana then you can fit and casting big spells while you are still under the effect. I will be sure to remember that.
We help out by dismantling some of the undead on our way to the turtle. A skeleton archer pulls back an arrow and gets a fireball from my Spell Matrix for its trouble. Flaming bones explode! over the battlefield - a bit of an overkill. A well timed vine, armed with an ability to tear magic apart, takes off a skull from one of the skeletal warrior's shoulders.
The elemental collides with the giant zombie and delivers a shattering! blow to its head with a massive fist of stone. The impact loud, and enough to stop the thing in its track. -Hell, my assistance might not even be necessary. We still reach it and climb the side of the scale covered leg, towards the spiky shell. The huge maw of the turtle closes around the earth construct's waist with surprising speed; this move earning it a two handed overhead hammer punch to the shell, which almost throws us off, were it not for Rose grasping it strongly with our vines.
We make our way to the top, and the people by the inn engage with the remaining skeletons for a second time tonight. -That old man sure knows how to swing that weapon.
So... now what?
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Caroline almost blacks out after using so much mana in one spell. *Huff, *huff -I might have pulled a magic muscle or something with such a big firewall. But the potion is still working, filling her with more power. She can't afford to waste any of its effect; a trick taught in the army, for when the things get desperate and they need more magic support, it is costly and taxing to the mage's body— they've already lost Mike and Gregory is in a pretty bad shape; the arrow form an undead archer was a nasty piece of work, filled with dark magic, and he broke his shoulder falling from the roof. -This situation qualifies.
After what the demon did, the natural mana in the area of the breach was more aligned to fire, allowing her to cast such a spell.
"C.C, there on the left!" An arrow flies dangerously close and she locates the culprit following her colleague's directions. A firebolt to the chest makes the skeleton drop its bow, but it wasn't enough to kill it. She needs more power...
Another of her spells blasts the skull of an enemy that was about to slash at one of the inn's workers; the man thanks her, then swings his sledgehammer finishing off the damned thing.
More power. An inspiration hits her... something the demon did, can she also try? Caroline was always bad with manipulating natural mana - and anything that's not related to fire really. But watching its magic gave her an idea.
Next target breaks apart after a single shot - she's got it! A smile shows on her face, not something she expect to show tonight. It's gone as quickly as it came as she focuses on this new sensation and sends a spell after spell into the oncoming undead.
The effect of the potion is soon gone but she keeps casting. A stream of fire swallows a row of skeletons, her magic more efficient now.
Meanwhile Marcus is dancing between the wretched creatures with his new spear and a smile on his face, and the two titans make the ground shake as they try to tear each other apart. The demon's power surprised her once again after it created that golem. -No wonder everyone fears them, I hope the young merchant has a proper hold of his pet. There were too many rumors recently about demonic creatures running around, wrecking havoc.
Where is—
A series of sharp *explosions! and bright flashes of light coming from near the gate makes her turn her head to see the undead guardian's shell fall apart. A dark mass of writhing coils, armed in razor sharp teeth falls on the now exposed back and seemingly tears its way inside in a fountain of gore.
She can't pay it much more attention, there are still more undead to burn.
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It's over.
I'm currently examining some of the scale plates my Overcharged runic stones blasted off the zombie's shell, looking for anything still usable. Those were crazy tough to crack, but something managed to damage it enough that we could slip some of my 'flashbangs' under the armor around the massive axe; the frost coming out of it making that section even more brittle, a perfect spot. I'm suspecting there must have been many of those Giants around, to be able to kill this tank of a beast one or two would not be enough.
The creature before becoming an undead was a high level monster, almost level 40, if it was the same one that gave us a ride back then. Circa will be sad...
Shaking of useless thoughts we pick one of the smaller and better preserved pieces. Trying to fit it inside the ring might be a challenge. -Oh right we need to collect our spear. The mortals are licking their wounds and gathering the fallen. Another person died in this last attack...
I was nice enough to clean up after we put Gamera to rest - guess I owed it at least this much... That zombie only had its size and tough body going on for it, no special abilities really and had no way to defend itself from us just doing whatever we liked on its back. Too stupid to roll over the ground as well - or maybe just unable to.
Disposing of all the undead in the vicinity was a chore and we didn't even get a level out of this, *Sigh!
—Not to mention, that except for some leftover essence in the reanimated guardian - remnants from when it was still alive, all of their essence went away and disappeared somewhere when they were destroyed. I hate them, not enough reward for all the work and even this special form of miasma is also useless to Rose.
-Let's avoid fighting undead in the future, not worth the trouble.
We make our way to Jarred, it's about time to collect our payment for the job and I have a lot of questions. I will need to get some life energy soon as well, running on fumes here.
As we approach I catch an interesting conversation.
"-I don't know If he will agree. Mentioned being short on time." -Yeah, we don't have much of that, the fool is right. Need to go back to hell as we need to move our hoard into the new lair and check on our garden.
"What do you mean, don't you control it?" The look on the boss lady's face is... complicated.
"Carol, don't scare our employer, we are still contracted to-"
"This is important sarge! We need to know where we—" She cuts him off, I wonder who is in charge around here.
"It- he is... unbound. I— I didn't have time to negotiate, people were dying and-" Ha! This fool...
The Fire Witch, Carol -or was it actually Caroline? though I've heard her called that. Looks at the guy like she wants to punch him and run away to hide at the same time. Silly people, but I don't want her to knock out my summoner, at least until I get to ask my questions - like he said we are busy.
"Yeah, I'm my own boss!" My arrival finally noticed, they all turn towards me with an interesting medley of emotions.
From gratitude to fear, especially after glancing behind me -—and up. The huge golem that follows us can move surprisingly quiet, not the slightest tremor caused by this huge mass of earth and stone. I guess that's because it is actually an earth elemental, with control over the ground. The markings are now dim, not glowing, as it's in mana saving mode so it is also hard to spot in the dark. -Speaking of, we need to visit the shrine as well.
But now, revealed by the lights coming from the inn, its imposing figure is visible to all - and they are afraid.
> Bound Earth Elemental (20).
Level 20 is the limit of its current vessel, created by the rod. I have no idea what's the spirit's actual power as it didn't seem to have a body for me to use identify.
"What is this even about?" I ask eyeing the old army man. He looks horrible, those cuts will leave scars, and— is this taint flowing into him from my spear? You don't want that in your head mister. "-Give me that before you go insane."
His eyes grow wide as Rose grabs the spear with her roots, siphoning out the miasma and getting our toy back. We watch it for any damages but it seems to be fine. When I glance back the trio looks at me stunned, jaws to the floor.
Surprisingly, it is Jarred who gets his wits back first and finally answers with a hint of a smile. "They wanted you to join the caravan until we reach the city, the undead hordes this clo-"
Me riding a caravan? "Not a chance. I was very busy when you brought me up here, now I just want my answers. Also congratulation on two Level Ups Carol."
"Level— ups? What do you mean demon?" Her green eyes narrow with suspicion.
Huh?
Why did she ask that like she didn't know what I'm talking about and looked at me like that? Not sure who among us is more confused right now...
...
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