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Land of Mirriam
Chapter 42 :: Riding a Spike

Chapter 42 :: Riding a Spike

Back at the northern walls. Gallo was on the top of his tower that was covered with tents, it was the command center of the whole battle. On his hand, he was reading a piece of white paper, a part of a set of the Lutra Magic Paper. He smiled upon reading the message.

“So they found it, the source of the enemies…” Gallo read the message from the hero party who already successfully found Simon.

Gallo celebrated silently in his mind… with this, they could possibly end the siege earlier. The message said that they were asking for some kind of distraction, the red-haired tactician had instantly a few ideas on his mind.

But it would be much better if more brains would think about it “Call the engineers we are going on a brainstorming!!!” Gallo commanded another warrior who was on the post with him.

In his mind he promised that he would make more types of items like the Lutra Papers, he was so fond that it was so handy. Then Gallo suddenly noticed dust and snow but it was not from the front of the wall rather it was from behind the slope.

“Reinforcement?” he said like a question and full of hope.

<--->

The wind raged, from afar Vish and his entourage weathered it. The sound of the cannons can be heard. The gates were already starting to open when they were getting closer, they must have seen them from afar.

Vish finally arrived at the northern wall, not much had changed, she remembered her brother waving on top of the guard wall at the gate of the town when she left.

Upon arriving, a familiar face was waiting for them, it was Percival and the Mayor, and a red-headed kid was also there.

“Vish… it's good to see you,” the Mayor greeted. He looked around and it seemed that the company that arrived first was northerners; some of them had visited the northern wall in the past so the Mayor and Percival were quite familiar with them.

Vish was a towering high of a human, she also used an axe like Percival. “Miss Vish… it's an honor,” Gallo greeted her like a noble should. Of course, she knew how to greet back.

“The queen is also sending more; they will be here 3 days from now on,” Vish reported and handed over a scroll of paper to Percival. “… I’ve got bad news,” Percival said with a serious tone.

“... Bibs?” Vish asked, it's some sort of a feeling… Percival just nodded. There was a bit of silence for a while…

“I will mourn for him after the siege… where to now?” Vish seemed to swallow all her feelings.

“We will be launching an all-out attack in a while; for now, have a rest, this kid will explain everything,” Percival pointed to Gallo.

“So… he is not your kid?” Vish asked it in a mocking tone.

Vish and Percival shook hands. Followed by Gallo.

The company of the 30 knights that was also northerners was a great addition to the fighting force that they would launch. These knights are clearly already adapted to the harsh climate of the north. To add that they were dungeon divers, humans who do dungeon diving are known to grow much stronger and faster.

After a while Gallo went back to his quarters, there were a few engineers there, they already had created a replica of the battlefield using the most random objects in addition to clay and housewares they found cluttering around. Gallo needed to run different scenarios of what if.

“Something is amiss,” the red-haired boy scanned the data that was presented to him. On a paper.

“What is it? we still got some plates here,” Afara said, expecting something he shouldn’t.

“No… I’ve been tallying the kills of the warriors and adventurers on the top of the wall… the estimated kills of the cannons… it's getting lower” Gallo said.

… “So this plan is a gamble if the enemy really has a commander,” Afara said upon analyzing Gallo’s plan.

“It's actually a safe bet, if the commander is intelligent he would fall into the trap, if they are really getting low on numbers then it’s a good sign,” Gallo said.

<--->

A spike somewhere in a high ground.

The mutated walker kept some spikes on a higher ground… it was to watch the humans… their reactions and strategies… they were formidable… his plan to flood them with spikes was a failure, the swarm of wall breakers was stopped twice… but he had the go signal from the queen… he can spend as much as he could to tear down the wall.

The queen had said before that the humans were one of the weakest beings. They used to go to roads under the earth because almost everything preyed on them, they were the bottom of the food chain… if it wasn’t for the mighty dragon’s blessings that they were protected. She added that the mighty dragon didn’t favor humans… it's just that the humans were the first ones that find it… which was why they received its blessings first.

If they can break through they could claim the land itself and the blessings itself.

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“SCREEECH” he cannot be bothered. He kept watch. Even if there was a human in front of him… he didn’t care. They pose no threat… what was important was the wall. He was just waiting… would the wall fall first or the underground tunnel be dug first. His twin brother was in charge of the army and he was in charge of the plans.

Time passed…

The twin mutated walker’s mind was always connected, they knew of each other's plan, the brother that was in charge of the army sent a spike to act as its eyes on the battle field. Finally, the foolish humans made a wrong move… he was continuing the siege but he was slowly reducing the numbers of the waves at small paces… it was to trick humans that they were thinning out. Humans would surely fight and attack back!

The gates opened… the humans seemed to launch their own attack; his joy vibrated in the air as he commanded every spike to attack into a single point. It was time!

“SCREEECH” it called upon its twin saying that he would lead the charge. His twin contradicted him, suggesting to just complete the ritual in the ruins but he didn’t listen.

<--->

Back to Simon and the Hero’s Party. They already had moved closer to the slopes of the mountains that they would be climbing on. The downwind from the mountain was fierce and add the snow, and it was truly a frigid north.

“It's starting” Simon warned the group… they were only 6 of them. 3 front lines, Simon, Andy, and Paramour, then the 3 mages at the back. The black hood could use enhancement magic while Raphael specialized in wind and light magic. The princess is a master of earth and fire magic; she said that she could use a little bit of wind magic but she was not that good with it.

“Simon… how can you be so calm… if you can’t cut through it… what am I supposed to do?” The hero asked; he was unsure. The princess looks in disbelief at what the hero said.

“Its… a belly feeling… I think your fire spear techniques can but it's… can’t you see how fast the spikes die when you use fire?” Simon asked.

“So you are saying that fire is effective to them?” Raphael then asked.

Simon nodded. The truth is that fire magic was considered to be the most destructive magic in the elements… since everything can be burned by fire.

“I’ll trust you with that… oh… by the way she is Carla… a princess, she uses earth magic!” Paramour introduced the 2.

“Fire magic too!!! Here” She then raised her hands to be kissed as a sign of respect but since Simon didn’t have any concept with it he shook it.

“What the!!! That was rude!!! AND YOU ARE FILTHY!!!! And your EYES ARE WEIRD!!!” Carla exclaimed while she put her hands to her nose to deny the scent from the blood-soaked boy earlier.

“… I already cleaned… and I was born with it… I think we should go now!” Simon changed the topic.

Just one look from the hero Carla quickly scanned the area. “They are much thinner now… how the hell did you know?”

Simon raised his shoulders in a gesture; Carla totally didn’t know what it meant but Paramour, Andy, and Raphael laughed a bit. They started traveling into the east side of the mountain.

Simon then pointed out in the direction of the small crack he went out from.

“Did you know that spikes are very good mountain climbers,” Simon said as he used his thumbs to point a bit away from the small crack.

<--->

They had to kidnap a few of the spikes to be ridden on. With Andy’s help and Simon’s ideas, they immediately captured some spikes, using the earth magic of the princess the spike was pinned down, and Simon used his wind blades to specifically cut the voice box of the spikes.

“Using anything sharp to pierce directly between the head and the bone, twisting it makes them walk, turning the head changes their direction…” Simon was showing it live to them; riding a spike. “Carla please remove the earth seal” Simon requested respectfully but Carla the imperial princess frowned, she still did it at Simon’s request.

As Simon twisted the wind blades that were stabbed on its head the spike stood up and started to walk. Even Carla who was watching felt bad for the spikes. The spikes who were seeing what would happen to them shouted in silence since their voice box was already removed.

“Do we really have to do it like that?” Carla asked. “Climbing down the mountain was easy, but climbing up is hard, these monsters are good at climbing” Simon answered Carla’s question.

“Okay, you can release mine!” it was Andy already riding on the spike, the princess just sighed as she gave up. The hero then jumped on one of the spikes and followed Simon’s instructions.

The princess was riding together with the hero, Andy with Raphael, and Simon with the Black Hood. During the climb Simon pointed out another opening up in the mountain, it was a path hidden by the mountain walls. It was a larger cave where the Spike was pouring out.

“If you saw the cave the walkers were guarding, they were gathering there but I can’t tell the reason why,” Simon said. The party was silent. The cold air shut them up.

They had to climb up into the mountain, after 40 minutes of climbing there was a small path where they could stand, one by one they finished off the spikes dropping their bodies and rolling them down the mountain, Carla really hated Simon for this.

Simon led the group from the small path into a small cavern opening that was on the western side of the mountain. He enters and the party follows. He warned them that it was really dark there, the Black Hood conjured a night vision for the party except for Simon.

It was narrow but the entrance was okay, it immediately led downward. The princess said to them that she would kill them by pouring fire downwards if anyone looked up. It was a given, she was wearing a skirt… Simon who was sliding down first arrived on the scene and it was still in the same state only with an abundant horde of spikes, but he only needed to give space for the party behind him…

Since Simon can see in the dark he went first quickly slaying the surrounding spikes. The spikes that were digging didn't care about their comrades.

The same goes for the mutated walker that was silently standing.

The clean-up should really be quick… Simon said that they shouldn’t use fire magic yet and keep it until they fight the mutated walker. Simon immediately requested Carla to close the path to the other tunnel with her earth magic… and she answered back; “The other way is already closed” Carla said as she summoned earth pyres piercing spikes to their death also at the same time closed off the area that led to the deep ruins at Simon’s request.

Simon watched in awe as the earth pyres precisely created a hole in almost the same spots. She cannot be underestimated he thought.

The hero’s party went ballistic and started slashing down the remaining spike that was trying to dig the large door… until the only one remaining was the mutated walker who wasn’t even responding to their work.

“It's not responding,” the Black Hood said; he has been keeping watch of the surroundings, especially the large spike in the middle of the cavern.

“I think it's controlling them…” Simon responded. Everybody totally didn’t get what he was saying but “Let us finish this one… there is still another one right?” The hero with just a look signaled, the black hood and Raphael started conjuring their magic. They were going to do that combo again, the sphere of wind with the hero’s spear of fire but this time with the enhancement of the black hood.

“It's noticed us!!! Continue casting… miss please protect them!!!” Simon quickly noticed the change in atmosphere. The tails of the mutated walker who were also surprised started moving.