Carlos and his team were doing everything they could, but the current wave of monsters was unlike anything he'd ever faced. The Triton was used to rampages. Being one of the few people who chased after the skills, one could get to become more powerful during these events. His team was just the same; they were all rampage specialists.
This, however, didn't feel as if it was a rampage. The monsters were supposed to be coming at them in a frenzy. It was dangerous, of course, but they should all still behave like animals. Controlling, or at least directing, their behavior wasn't that complicated. All one had to do was to prey on their basic instincts. Especially since rampages would turn even the smartest monster into a mindless creature, he had fought against Dullahans and a skeleton army, including a general leading them all. But even in a situation like that, the creatures just tried to brute force everything.
And now, Carlos watched as a group of Ash Gremlins, ridding Cinder Hounds, went around the city walls, tossing their weird ash glue at the windows. Those windows were stations where hunters and people with long-range attacks were barricading themselves before attacking. Following that, the Void Weavers, lanky bear like creatures with a large arm in the place of the tail, created large chunks of liquid obsidian and tossed at those same windows, turning the ash into actual blocks of obsidian. This was supposed to be a reaction that was only recently found out since the Ash Gremlins always stayed very far away from the Void Weavers.
The Forge Magmas were working together with the Magma Constructs to create… something. It was hard to tell since they were all far in the distance, but it looked like some sort of siege weapon. Not a trebuchet or some sort of long-distance weapon. But a battering ram or a mobile tower to allow the monsters to climb up the walls of the city. A few groups did try to stop whatever was going on, but the moment anyone got closer, the horde of monsters turned to attack them. It was clear this was their highest priority.
"I just got a message from the command center. They also don't know why this is happening. And without a connection, the internet doesn't work during a rampage; we can't ask around," Kaylin, a dwarven woman, said with a sigh as she took her position. Without even waiting for a reply, she drew her bow and sent an acid arrow at one of the cinder hounds in the front of the pack. The projectile struck the creature's front leg and made it fall to the ground. However, instead of dropping the Ash Gremlin and causing a pile-up, the rest of the pack simply moved away, with the gremlin that was riding the injured hound jumping to another.
"Shit, not even that?" Charon, an elven mage, gasped, "Aren't the hounds supposed to halt if the leader of the pack falls?"
"Maybe it wasn't the alpha," Kaylin scratched her cheek.
"C'mon, don't tell me you fell for that crap. The whole idea of alphas is bullshit, and you know it," Charon huffed as he clasped his hands, electricity crackling around his body. He took a deep breath as a spell circle appeared around him with the assistance of that current. He aimed at a group of monsters who were flying high. There were some Cloudwing Strikers, and it was hard to tell if they would go for the spire or try to attack the city. Either way, they couldn't take the chance. Tossing his hands towards the creatures, he activated his spell, 'Plasma Chain,' a hyper-concentrated burst of pure energy flew to the sky, hitting the first of the electric birds, then jumping to the next, and the next, spreading to all 24 before they fell to the ground. If the spell itself wasn't enough to kill them, the impact finishes them off. Charon puffed his chest, "This is how you clear them."
"Oh, stop being a child," Kaylin huffed, but in response, she fired off a dozen arrows in quick succession. All of them hit the pack of Cinder Hounds only to explode in jagged shards of ice a moment later. This was enough to clear the monsters, including the gremlins riding them.
Charon huffed, "And I'm the one being a child."
"Shut up and focus!" Carlos stopped the two, "Something is going on back there."
"What are they doing?" Ariel, the second Triton and only healer of the team, stepped forward and used [Far sight], a skill to see the movement of the monsters in the distance.
He watched as the Forge Magmas continued building their weapon. About 50 of them spread around this large tube structure, emanating heat. From behind them, two large Molten Elementals appeared, lumbering forward with heavy steps. Yells all over the walls warned the people of their appearance. Those creatures would be a problem no matter who tried to fight them.
Slowly, they approached whatever the Forge Magmas were doing and started to climb inside the structure. Confused, Adriel narrated what was going on, but he also failed to understand what was going on. From above, a pair of Ember Garudas came down and positioned themselves as if they were about to do the same. Climb inside of whatever was being created. But instead of doing that, they stopped and opened their mouths. Flames roared inside their throats.
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"What the hell are they doing?" Charon asked.
"I don't know, but a bunch of Gloom Bats just rushed inside the cylinder," Ariel replied.
That made everything inside Carlos' mind click, making him yell at the top of his lungs, "IT'S A CANON-"
Together with the end of his phrase, a loud explosion roared, shaking the entire city. Siege weapon was truly that, a siege weapon. But not one as rudimentary as a battering ram or a plain tower. They had built a cannon, and the Molten Elementals were the ammo. With the Gloom Bats being able to use a suicide skill that turned their bodies into highly explosive gas, all they needed was a spark to ignite everything. And to avoid wasting the force behind the explosion, they used something that could overpower it. The breath attack of the Ember Garudas.
The result was a single shot. A single shot broke the cannon, killed the Forge Magmas that were created, and hurt most of the creatures protecting the construction; even the Ember Garudas were injured in the process. However, the results spoke for themselves. With the Molten Elemental shells, the frontal wall of the Hearthome was broken open. More specifically, it melted open.
Smoke was billowing out from the wreckage created by the attack. The towers and the walls, as well as all of those who were defending it, lay broken on the ground. The monsters roared and started charging towards the city. All of them, without exception. The hundreds of Cinder Hounds, thousands of Gloom Bats and Magma Spiders, and the three Sky Watchers seemed to be the generals of their army. Along with all the other monsters there could be found in the room, they were all charging non stop, swarming the city and attacking anything in their path.
Carlos didn't know how long he was out for. When he woke up, Charon, Ariel, and Kaylin were beside him, all battered and bruised. Some of their limbs were broken, and there were pieces of rebar sticking out of Kaylin's arm. Looking up, he saw Zachary, the bear beastmen, and Tibold, the harpy. The fighter and controller pair were holding on to the rubble, making sure that they were not buried under it all.
"You are finally awake. There is a gap behind you. Either leave to get help or open a path to take everyone out," Zachary said.
"A path would be better. I don't think we can wait for help," Tibold buckled under the weight for a moment but was soon able to steady himself.
Carlos quickly cast a couple of healing spells on everyone. He might be an explorer, but he had taken healer as one of his role skills. Unfortunately, he focused more on battle heals, which wasn't the best thing for this kind of situation. Looking back, he saw a small gap between all the rocks and pieces of broken wall. Struggling a bit, he pushed through them and slowly started to open a path. From the outside, he could hear the screams of people and the roars of monsters already inside the city. It seemed like they were falling back to the secondary line of defense. Which should mean not many of the noncombatants were harmed. But it also meant they were running out of options.
It took him about two minutes before he was able to open a gap large enough to take his friend out of it. Just as he did so, he saw a large piece of the spire behind the city breaking apart. For a moment, he was scared that the rock would hit them, but its trajectory was different. Instead of going straight down, it was moving almost like a glider, going past the city and crashing on top of the monster army. He glanced up again and saw how the spire now had a massive hole on its side, a hole that was a new entrance for the monsters to enter through.
He looked back and started dragging some of his team members outside. He had to do that to allow Zachary and Tibold to leave that place. The two might have been able to withstand the attack, but they were not in the best of shape either. After pulling Ariel and placing him in a hidden spot close to the rubble, he returned to grab Charon. Silently cursing at his low-strength stat. That's when he saw wisps of green, purple, and orange all around him.
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The Pool of Styx empowers you. While under its area of effect, you will receive the following buff to your attributes. When you leave said area, the buff will vanish, never to return again.
Strength + 43 Agility + 22 Endurance + 20 Intelligence + 15 Charisma +10 Luck + 1
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Feeling the surge of power on his body, he quickly dragged the mage out, only to see Ariel already waking up, also surrounded by the wisps of light. He quickly started healing himself and Charon as Carlos went back for Kaylin, only to discover Tibold getting her out. It seemed like Zachary was able to hold on to everything by himself now. And soon, the beastmen left the hole, letting it collapse behind him.
As the group was still trying to understand the situation, they saw a Soot Golem appear from the side. The monster raised both arms as the party scrambled to get away. However, the weight of the monster was too much for the debris. It was standing on top. Some of the rubble collapsed, forcing the creature to stumble back. The Golem fell to the ground, large pieces of rock impaling it. The impact also caused the ground to shake enough to cause the collapse of one of the only tall structures that still stood. Not only that, but the piece of wall also fell on top of the monster, killing it in the process.
Carlos looked around and noticed how that kind of thing started happening a lot. Monsters that were passing by dangerous places would slip and fall. Ash Gremlins would toss their ash glue only to be intercepted by other attacks, making the glue fall to the ground and become a trap for their own side. It wasn't like all the monsters were suddenly making mistakes. Only those who were trying to do something risky or moving across a place that could collapse on its own. Almost as if someone had forced Murphy's law on each of them.
"What the hell is going on?" Tibold asked.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, let's not waste it. We don't know how long this is going to last.