CHAPTER 155: Little Giants
“You know, I’m still up 4 to 2 on boss kills. I think now is a good time for you to even the score,” said Tom.
Lucas narrowed his eyes at his companion before turning back to the blue giants moving their way. They were huge. Even with his largest weapon he wouldn’t be able to reach any internal organs without hacking through their thick skin and muscles.
The one-eyed monsters were slowly but steadily moved towards the base. Their foot falls shook the ground. The blue ones were all levels 32-38, still in Tier 2. Unfortunately, with that much mass the Tier barely mattered. Doing enough damage to disable or kill them was going to be a challenge.
Their classes made it obvious why they were here. [Plinth of Destruction], [Barrier Abolisher], [Defense Breaker], [Battering Ram], etc. They were coming for the walls. Keeping pace with the giants while staying about 50 yards back was the Scyrric army.
“I’ll get right on that,” Lucas snapped at Tom, his nerves keeping him from being able to ignore the teasing. Then he turned to the window connected to the nearest gun tower. “Try the automatic on a blue when it gets close enough to ensure a good shot.”
“Roger,” responded the gunman.
Lucas waited as they continued to come closer. Each beat of his heart announced the passage of time. Sweat was beading on the back of his neck. He didn’t say anything, his entire focus was on the approaching army. Even Tom’s inane chatter failed to penetrate.
1000 yards…
800 yards…
Lucas knew the range of typical machine guns was further out, and these specially crafted ones with the increased charge and stronger alien materials should be able to reach even further distances, but they wanted to make sure they would be able to hit. The accuracy of the multi-shot rifles was suspect, and they had limited bullets. Plus, they didn’t have a way to modify them on the fly, so they would need to live with the results.
“Don’t fire until you see the white of their eye,” Tom altered the quote.
500 yards…
A volley of bullets spat out from their gun tower towards the closest cyclops. The creature let out a shriek as six bullets pierced the skin of their chest. Blood sprayed out. It was a large amount of blood for a normal sized creature, but hardly a concerning amount for creatures of this size.
The hurt invader grunted and scowled at its chest. Then an oversized hand wiped the blood away. As the hand came away the bullet holes were gone. No wound or scar remained. Lucas also scowled at the large invader’s chest.
“Geez! They regenerate?” gasped Tom. “They don’t even need to drink blood! It’s like fourteen giant versions of the boss. How can we defeat that?”
“Give him a couple pizzas?” questioned Joseph.
“I don’t think we can make enough pizzas big enough in time to distract these guys,” said Brandon, clearly shaken by what he saw.
Lucas sighed. There was nothing for it. They couldn’t leave the wall to attack the monsters’ feet because the Scyrric would open up on them. 50 yards was not far with the strength and speed that levels provided, or the ranged spells that would come at them.
Then a laughing voice was projected all around them. It hissed and sputtered but was recognizable from the previous battle. The metallic berserker was speaking to them.
“Foolish ants, now you see the true power in this universe. Understand that you are nothing and despair! These little giants have the highest vitality of any race. They cannot be stopped without overwhelming power. Any wound will be regenerated. They will get through your wall and then your lives will belong to us! Glory to the Scyrric!”
“I hate that guy,” muttered Joseph.
Lucas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He thought of the different plans they had set up. Giants to knock down the walls hadn’t been considered. They had considered strength builds that might do the same but would have expected them in the range of normal sized. Fighting these giants would really tax their resources.
Dropping melee fighters to engage directly wouldn’t work. Even with defensive classes would be insufficient to protect from the Scyrric forces. Attacking from the wall wouldn’t have a high enough damage output to put down the cyclopes, let alone the army moving with them.
Lucas opened his eyes back up.
“Carlos, any surprise weakness?” Lucas asked, not really expecting there would be one.
“Just the eye,” answered their information specialist. “Everywhere else is showing near instant regeneration abilities.”
“Then we need to expect that the wall will be breeched by at least one of them. Jordan, get the forces that aren’t on the wall behind it, melee heavy. Put my dad’s unit in charge. Make sure you mark for them where the wall gets weakened. Send runners to collect any non-essential ammo from the other gun towers. We’ll run out too quickly otherwise. And one more thing…”
Lucas frowned and grumbled under his breath. He really didn’t like what he had to say next.
“Yes, commander?” asked Jordan hesitantly.
“Tell General Carmichael a breech is imminent. We expect them to send their strongest here to help.”
“What if he refuses?” questioned Jordan, not happy that he would be the bearer of bad news.
“Then the base will fall. Neither human faction will have it. His people can flee and continue their travels.”
There was a pause, then Jordan responses with, “on it.”
“Now, gun tower. Save the auto-fire for the Scyrric. Sniper shots aim for those giant eyes. See if you can take one out.”
“Roger, commander!”
“Doesn’t that mean we won’t have enough ammo for all those high-level Tier 3s the Scyrric have brought?” asked Randall.
“We better hope that T-Rexy guy sees the value in working with us,” responded Tom.
They all waited as the gunman in the tower set up his shot. The giants continued to come closer.
300 yards…
200 yards…
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There was no loud bang. No sudden burst of noise or motion. The bullet traveled instantly with the sound dampened by the Rift Menu.
The lead cyclops suddenly winced, head snapping backwards. The damage done to the eye was greater than what they had done to the chest, though this shot was easily five times as strong. The giant let out a bellow as fluid leaked from his eye. It began to heal, but much slower, as if the pressure from inside was trying to rip the entry wound further.
“Sir! No kill message!” said the gunman.
“Damn! Not even that was enough,” swore Lucas. Then he spoke into a window connected to most of their forces on the wall. “All ranged attackers, hit the lead monster’s eye with everything you have. Bring him down!”
A thousand spells fired followed by a hundred arrows. It had been planned that way to prevent the physical attacks from being destroyed by magic before they reached their targets. Not every attack was accurate, but enough were that the barrage began striking the invader’s eye. Fire, water, stone, lightning, ice, arrows…they all landed. Slowly the bullet hole increased in size. The spells had to be re-aimed as the invader fell to his knees, a seeming disconnect between his brain and body from the damage he was taking.
“Lamar, what do you have?” asked Lucas.
Lamar had been standing there with his bow drawn, an arrow ready, but not firing so his skill [Take Your Time] could boost his damage.
“Almost ready,” he stated, using all his skills to enhance the arrow he was touching.
“All casters, cease fire,” Lucas ordered the troops on the wall.
Once the spells were no longer flying, the cyclops on his knees from the damage he had taken, Lamar took in a breath and held it. Then he released the string.
The arrow zipped almost as fast as a pre-[System] bullet and landed true. It entered the widened opening and exploded thanks to a new skill he had learned, [Shower of Pain]. The skill was meant as an area attack as it released bursts of energy that spread out. In the confined space of the invader’s skull, the damage was more than it could regenerate from.
Pulped brain matter and blood spilled from the cyclops' eye.
Kukiolis “Barrier Abolisher [34]” slain. 1,392 shared XP gained.
Lucas let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. So did a lot of people around him.
“Alright, one down. Now we know we can kill them,” he stated, as much to himself as the others.
“Only 12 more and their Tier 3 left to go,” said Tom, raining on their moment of success.
As if in response to Tom, the larger yellow cyclops released a roar that shook the air and caused most of the humans, and even the Scyrric, to cover their ears. Up until now he had been waiting behind all the forces, close to where the Metallic Berserker waited, allowing the battle gains to start with his troops. With the death of the first Kukiolis, the most dangerous one took big strides to get to them.
“Dumbass,” said Alissa as she shoved Tom, as if his words had caused the boss Kukiolis to mobilize. He nodded, seeming to agree with her.
“Andrea, do you think you can get a killing blow like Lamar?” asked Lucas. For a single ranged attack, she and Lamar were their go-to guys.
“Probably,” she answered.
“Then start on the left, Lamar on the right. Carlos, split the ranged to focus on one at a time. Elias, get your [Landslide] working and see if any of the other crowd control skills people have can keep those behemoth’s away from us,” directed Lucas. At each set of orders, the person he spoke to nodded and hurried away.
“I’ll help with the crowd control,” said Nick as he strode to follow Elias.
“Gun towers, left gunman work with Andrea, right with Lamar. Make sure you let me know when you are halfway down on ammo. We need to take these guys down before they break the walls!”
“Roger!” answered both riflemen together.
“What do the rest of us do?” asked Tom, hopping up and down like a kid who needed a bathroom break.
“I’d say to pray, but we all know who you’d pray to, and he won’t be coming,” groaned Lucas.
“You don’t know that! The boss will always come for us!” said Tom with a delusional smile on his face, hands spread open in the direction of Memphis.
***
Emily had managed to sneak onto the wall in the chaos of all the mages firing spells at the cyclops. Seeing those intimidating monsters from this vantage, she trembled a little. This was much scarier than when they were dots from Adam’s penthouse. Even with that, she didn’t regret coming out here. This was where she needed to be, along with everyone else. Not held in a tower like some dainty and useless princess.
She had even left a note behind in case anyone came looking for her at Adam’s place. “The Princess is in another castle.”
“What are you doing?” yelled a unit leader. It took Emily a moment to understand he was speaking to her. She had been small enough that she was able to push through and hide in the throngs of the Sentinels. Not everyone was casting spells, since rotations kept half the combatants from using up their mana too quickly. Supports were also in the back, waiting for the call for heals, buffs, or whatever skills they had.
Her class of “Elementalist [27]” was neither high nor low for this group. She had gained levels quickly while raiding the bases with Adam’s friends, but she was still a far distance from Tier 3. With a generic class, she also didn’t have the direct firepower. This class was aimed at wielding a variety of elements rather than empowering a single one.
“Are you from another unit?” the man asked impatiently.
Emily pointed to the numerous people coming up the stairs that came to the top of the wall parapets that they were fighting from.
“The commander ordered ranged reinforcements,” she said, not sure if her voice was quivering from the lies or from the shaking caused by the giants’ steps.
“Then wait for the next barrage and swap with those currently in the front,” the man said, probably more scared of the invaders than angry at the unplanned addition. More people really were arriving, and Emily knew that her equipment made her stand out. It was a mix of the strongest people in the army, after all. Also, the colors were all over the place, their anime style hero color coding was not easy to ignore.
As the one-eyed giants got closer, the fear in the people around her was palpable. They whispered to each other when not casting, asking questions about whether they would survive this. Everyone wanted to know if they would live or whether the base would fall.
There was one topic whispered the most above all others, one question on everyone’s mind. Emily felt guilt and remorse as each person talked about it in hushed volumes. She knew the answer but couldn’t say it.
The tremors from the giants approaching became emotional tremors as she found herself wanting to squeeze her eyes closed and remember the times that her big brother had hugged her when she was upset. She could sure use his reassuring presence now, a presence she had betrayed and hurt over the last few months. The question everyone wanted answered…
Where was The General? Would he still protect them?
“Where are you, Adam?” Emily whispered to herself, trying desperately to keep the tears inside.
STATUS SHEET:
Name: Lucas Fenton [17]
Age: 19
Race: Human
Appointment: N/A
Class: Battlemaster [5] (Epic) Tier 3
Body [12]
Strength: 214
Agility: 128
Vitality: 163
Intelligence: 44
Wisdom: 43
Skill Points: 0
Skills:
Sturdy Weapon: Increase durability of a held weapon.
Empower Blow +5: Increase damage caused by an attack.
Toughness +5: Increase user’s Vitality for a set amount of time.
Ideal Direction: Gain an enhanced awareness of your surroundings during combat. This increased perception will make it easier to know where enemies and allies are, and where attacks are most likely to come from or will be most effective to use.
All Weapons +5: Gain an enhanced capability with any weapon you wield. Wielder will gain an instinctual understanding of how to use the weapon both offensively and defensively.
Armless: Enhances combat without weapons. Should the user have no weapons, his strength, speed, reflexes, and durability will be improved. This will allow the user to fight barehanded against equipped foes.
Balance +5: Improve the balance of the user. The user will have an instinctual understanding of his own body, allowing him to control it better.
Proper Stance +5: Improves the technique of the user based on a single weapon he is wielding. This will allow him to fight more experienced foes with any weapon, regardless of his experience or training.
Evade: Increased ability to dodge attacks or objects in the user’s immediate range for a set amount of time.
Followup: After striking or stabbing, the attack will continue further, reducing the amount of momentum lost from making contact with a target.
Trade Blows +5: Allows the user to connect with an attack on a target after that target makes contact with the user. Damage caused from the guided attack will be reduced in strength by 50% from normal attacks made.
Held Against Me: User gains an instinctual knowledge of any weapon the enemy wields. This will allow the user to fight against unknown weapons or weapons the user is less experienced with.
Reduce Obstacles +2: Reduces the amount of resistance caused by physical objects when contact is made by the user’s wielded weapons. This will allow blades to penetrate deeper or blunt weapons to crush further.
Knowledge is Power: The more the user understands a weapon’s technique, the more powerful and resilient they are. Vitality is higher when struck by that weapon, and strength is increased when attacking.