Four of the warriors and two of the mages were on the wall while the other eleven warriors and the three mages ran alongside it on the ground. The wall warriors had three spears each on their back, two thin ones for throwing and a thick one for combat. Apparently no one had invented bows and arrows here yet.
The wall itself was barely thick enough for two gnolls, and while there was a waist-high ledge facing out, there was no such affordance on the inside.
The two mages he most wanted to kill, the ones who had earth-shaping powers, were on the ground. However, if he leapt down there to kill them immediately, he’d lose the high ground on the ledge, and then those throwing spears and distant mages would become much more of a problem. It would be nearly impossible to climb while they harassed him, and the nearest buildings weren’t close enough to do his platforming trick on.
Therefore the gnolls on the wall had to go first. The whole time he would be harassed by all the mages, and some of them might close up the hole. Surviving wasn’t an issue, since he was back up to almost twenty forms, but as far as keeping the hole open and saving his army it was a near-impossible situation.
The first warrior led with throwing one of its thin spears. Jerome didn’t have much room to work with, but he dodged to the side anyways… and almost fell off the wall.
That was it! He didn’t have to kill everyone on the wall… he just had to knock them off. If he knocked a mage off to the outside of the wall, then they would have to run through the hole before they bothered him again, so that would be doubly useful. They would either do that, losing time, or they would fight his army (and, due to numbers, lose). Either way was a good result.
Jerome recovered his balance and charged the warrior.
Halfway to it he was almost out of SP — those mages were keeping busy — so he switched forms. Switching on Ether Ghost after taking a new form was nearly automatic by now and he barely thought about it.
The warrior threw its second spear, which took Jerome in the chest. Not enough time to dodge.
This form would die soon.
Switch.
Then it was upon him with its thick combat spear. Jerome saw it coming and ducked into a roll, letting the spear strike go above him. He came out of the roll right under the warrior and so he place his feet against it and used Recoil Burst. It flew backwards into the warrior behind it, sending both of them slipping off the wall.
While he was crouched like this the three mages on the ground couldn’t see him, so his SP drain slowed. Could he fight from this position?
Another warrior poked at him with a spear and he rolled to the side to dodge. His roll was stopped by the ledge, which was good, but it also meant he was facing the ground instead of his enemy. Before he could fix that a second spear strike got him in the back, pinning him to the earth.
Switch.
He stood up and placed both hands on the chest of the surprised gnoll. Would they ever stop being surprised by him changing forms? Jerome sent it flying backwards into its companions. It took down the warrior behind it and the first of the wall mages, but none of them had the good manners to fall off the wall.
Still, it gave him an opening. He kicked the first warrior off the wall, and the second one he placed his hand on its throat and used Recoil Burst, creating enough trauma to knock it out even though it only took out half of the gnoll’s HP.
The first mage was still casting even though it wasn’t standing. He switched forms to restore SP, then grabbed it and threw it off the wall to the outside. Hopefully the fall damage would make it easy pickings for his approaching army.
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The last mage on the wall started running, but Jerome caught it by its clothing, pulled it back, and snapped its neck through sheer force. At his current strength level no Recoil Burst was required.
His SP was just about gone, so he fired off a Crystal Overload + Magic Burst onto one of the remaining mages for the free damage, then changed forms and leapt to the ground. The fall took about 10% of his HP even though he caught himself, but at this point a little HP damage to one of his forms was the least of his worries. It would only matter if three or four of those warriors stuck him with spears at the same time.
Which, he realized as they formed up around him, they might actually do. He should’ve stayed on the wall and channeled Crystal Overload on the remaining mages. Now he faced fourteen warriors, only three of which were injured, as well as three mages.
He took two spears at once, one in the shoulder and another in the leg. 42% more of his health gone. Another spear came at his stomach and he couldn’t dodge because of the two already in him. Down to 17% health, one spear away from death.
Switch.
He used Blast Off to rush the one of the warriors. It didn’t really matter which one, as long as he got to the edge of the circle instead of being on the outside. The warrior he targeted tried to stab him, but he kicked aside its spear before it hit him. His other foot landed on the warrior’s solar plexus, and the momentum knocked it over.
Fantastic! It would cushion his landing. The warrior was left gasping for breath, spearless, and Jerome turned to face the other ten.
They’d re-formed around him terrifyingly quickly, and a spear got him in the thigh before he even had a chance to completely regroup.
Even worse, the hole in the wall was being refilled quickly by the two mages with skill in Gaia magic.
However, that did leave an opportunity… only one mage was wearing down on his SP.
Jerome transformed into Krystyna.
He not only dodged the next spear that came at him, but he wrenched it from the gnolls hands and used it to block the next spear coming at him. Another hit him from the back, but it didn’t pierce his Mageless Armor and thus did less than half of the expected damage.
Jerome used Blast Off, reaching higher than before, and targeted the one remaining mage who wasn’t busy fixing the wall.
He threw the spear at the top of his leap right at the mage. He might not have any skill in spears, and in a spear duel he would most certainly lose, but at a certain level of strength and agility you can throw just about anything effectively.
The spear stopped a foot away from the mage’s chest. Of course. It had Hold.
Didn’t matter. Jerome’s momentum carried him away from the circle of warriors, and he didn’t stop when he hit the ground this time. He rolled forward and punched the gnoll right in the face. It stumbled backwards, so he used that advantage to toss it to the ground easily with his grappling skills. To finish it off he put his hand on its head and used Recoil Burst.
The other warriors had caught up. Twelve warriors, only four of which were injured in the slightest… He had to finish them all off before the mages finished filling up the hole. Even with Krystyna’s skills that would be a crazy feat — these gnolls were a higher level and more skilled than the ones Krystyna had held off eight-at-a-time in the woods.
His other option: he could try and repeat his spear trick with the remaining two mages. They were distracted, so it might actually work.
He dodged backwards, grabbing the first spear that came at him. He pulled, knocking that warrior off balance, then rushed in to kick the creature away from its own spear.
Success. Spear acquired.
However, the other warriors were now in a three-quarter circle around him, blocking his access to the mages. They could attack him from more angles than he could look in, and he couldn’t roll with the spear, so he had to throw the spear from a distance.
He used Blast Off to get height like before, then hurled his spear at one of the Gaia mages.
It hit, going straight through the gnoll’s chest. It didn’t die, but it would no longer be able to channel spells, even the healing spells that might keep it alive longer.
One down, one to go.
Distracted by the mages and carried forward with unchangeable momentum, Jerome landed stomach-first on a spear. His body only stopped its forward rush when he was impaled on it a good two feet, and even then he slid slowly down the shaft, the surface greased by his own blood and viscera.
Fuck.