“Ritualist,” I said to the werewolf first.

“Champion Michael. Surprised you are willing to talk,” the werewolf said for the Ritualist.

“Well, after our history, how could I refuse. You accepted my dinner invitation all those days ago. Now I return the favor,” I said hoping to agitate and unbalance him.

“And I survived that first battle between us. Which I count as a victory. Now here I stand, ready to crush everything and drive you into the wilderness. What will you do then?” the Ritualist asked. I could say that I would slowly grind away at his army even if he took the city, but that was loser talk. I was a winner.

“You seem awfully confident after our last encounter. Even with all your tricks, you were no match for me in the end,” I countered with a smile on my face. I kept an eye on his troops, but he wasn’t trying any type of shenanigans that I could tell.

“Traps and tricks are old news. Only power matters. Power I have in spades. Well that isn’t true, just one trick left. The best one of them all,” the Ritualist said.

“Oh, please do share, I am quite curious,” I replied hoping he would reveal his plans to me like an idiot.

“It isn’t that easy Champion Michael,” the Ritualist said and we both chuckled.

“You can’t blame me for trying. Still, perhaps a trade of information, before we try to kill each other?” I asked. I was looking beyond the Ritualist to the next threat.

“Oh, you are speaking of the Astrologer,” the Ritualist said, and my eyes went wide in shock. “Oh yes. I know about that idiot. Thinking summoning is subpar and I am an idiot. He stands no chance against me. Why? Is he upset?”

“I would think so. What did you do to annoy him besides existing?” I asked.

“Ruining his plans. His plans for you,” the Ritualist said. Well that much was obvious the way the Astrologer just showed up.

“Of course he has plans. He is the type to spin and spin and get confused with how much he is spinning. Any idea what they are?” I asked.

“I have my guesses, but those shall remain mine,” the Ritualist replied. That was unfortunate. “But let us move on to why I wanted to have a discussion.” Now I was curious. “Kneel and serve me. I have methods to ensure your obedience that is not hybridization. If you do so, I will spare 100 people of your choice from within the city,” the Ritualist offered.

“Only a 100? Seems a bit low to make me kneel,” I replied.

“Well someone wrecked my city. A price must be paid. I don’t expect you to accept, but if you did, it would be quite hilarious,” the Ritualist said and I let out a sigh.

“You just wanted to gloat? Or are you moving things into position underground?” I asked. There was a minute hesitation before the Ritualist’s reply. I mean, it wasn’t hard to guess with giant worms transporting his troops.

“Consider it a surprise. I doubt we will speak again. It has been entertaining Champion Michael,” the Ritualist said.

“Entertaining. That is a good word. Don’t complain when I skin and salt you,” I said and turned around and walked back through the tunnel in the wall. The Ritualist did nothing even as I went back on top of the wall.

I stood on top of the wall with General Smith, the Ritualist was still waiting. I scanned the sky and the ground. “He is sending his worms underneath us,” I said.

“A risk we have to take, you counter anything from behind, I can handle the front,” General Smith said confidently. “Radiant Beam users front and center. Full barrage and then fall back.” Six people stepped forward.

“Radiant Beam!” All six used the skill at the same time. At least 30 hybrids died in the attack. The soldiers quickly retreated. A worm burst out in the middle of the road back to the plaza. I didn’t hesitate. I leapt off the wall.

“Air Burst!” I shot forward through the air and quickly closed the distance. It was a big monster. Acid Shot x10. “Air Burst!” I landed on top of a building while hitting the monster all over with acid. It roared in aggravation but refused to go down. I blinked as I saw my acid being sucked into the monster. I thought the one that had absorbed the Radiant Beams from before was just a type mismatch. But whatever type this monster had, was some kind of absorption type.

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Massive amounts of heat were expelled from the monster. The surroundings began to melt. I chucked the bright orange and green bomb right into its mouth. No kill like overkill. I detonated the bomb. The monster shuddered a bit.

It emitted more heat but wasn’t going down. My sword would just melt with the amount of heat it was emitting. Well, the other one popped from energy overload. I tossed all three silver bombs into its mouth and activated them.

While they were boosting bombs, energy was energy, and I was hoping I could overload the pulsating red worm. It trashed about and grew even hotter. I could feel the waves of heat coming off of it. I was worried it wasn’t going to die.

Then it finally slammed down to the side and turned to dust. I let out a sigh of relief. I heard more explosions going off on the other side of the wall. General Smith seemed to have everything well in hand.

I looked at the hole the worm had dug, nothing was coming out of it, but it ruined the road back to the plaza. What was the Ritualist’s plan? I raced into the tunnel, leaping past the molten portion, keeping my eye out for any monsters. There weren’t any.

Why just send a worm through and nothing else? It made no sense. The Ritualist was many things, but not an idiot. A tunnel was a way to bypass the wall. Sending up monsters from behind would trap everyone on the wall. But a tunnel would also be a choke point. Sure the Ritualist could try and contest the tunnel, but a chokepoint would help me more than the Ritualist.

I felt the ground shake as more explosions occurred above me. Patches of dirt rained down. I was almost directly under the wall itself. There was a pile of glowing crystals. “Air Burst.” I quickly changed directions. The Ritualist had planted a bomb. Dammit! I knew he had access to a level 3 city with the necessary buildings.

The crystals detonated behind me as I shot forward through the tunnel. A blast of air pushed me forwards and I barely managed to keep my balance to kick off the ground. I felt an incredible amount of danger behind me, and didn’t dare turn to look.

There was a ripple through the ground around me. Dirt began to fall as everything began to shake. I barely cleared the entrance of the tunnel before the entire thing collapsed completely. I heard a rumble behind me and spun around.

The city wall was crumbling downwards. I saw the soldiers that had been on top caught up in the collapse and there was nothing I could do as they fell and were crushed by the falling debris. This was a disaster of epic proportions.

General Smith had concentrated most of his forces on the wall. While they were spread out to either side of the breach to some extent, it was a devastating blow to our side. There were a lot more people to the flanks that I had initially thought.

General Smith

I had suspected the Ritualist would use some kind of super attack to breach the wall. The soldiers with the lowest stats had been at the center, above the gates. The highest stat soldiers had been to the flanks.

It was too obvious the Ritualist wanted to catch my forces with one super attack. After hearing about the golem that broke the city wall, I had developed a plan to counter something that could breach city walls.

My sensors had warned me of the high concentration of energy underneath the wall. I knew the attack was coming soon. I only kept the front people on the center of the wall, while moving the rest to the far flanks.

I was right when there was a massive explosion underneath the wall. Too predictable Ritualist. He was our only real foe and the one we constantly war gamed about. We knew he would come back, and we were prepared for this day.

Still, I wouldn’t underestimate the man. He had brought 2,500 level 3 hybrids to our gates. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how he had amassed such an army, but he had. I winced as several of my soldiers fell and were crushed. I had to keep them there to force the Ritualist to detonate his bomb and fall into my trap.

The Ritualist’s forces surged forward. He had fallen for my trap as they all rushed for the breach. I noted he was keeping at least 1,500 in reserve and probably his strongest forces, but this trap would force him to use his trump cards earlier. We

“NOW!” I shouted out and waved the red flag I had towards the other section of the wall across the breach. All the archers pulled out their red colored arrows. Each one was primed with a different level 3 crafting crystal. I had been stockpiling for a quite a while for this day. There was no overkill like a barrage of explosions that interacted with each other to create a massive killing field.

The level 1 crafting crystals from before were just to keep the harassing forces off of us. Their power and range sub-par against a host of this magnitude. The red arrows flew down into the horde just as they clumped up to enter through the breach.

Over a hundred primed crystals activated. It had been a huge risk carrying them up here, but my people had trained against mental shocks, to maximize their Mind stat. There would be no accidents on my watch.

The explosions rippled across the rubble. The effects combined and more effects were unleashed. Annihilation between energy types happened, shredding everything in its path as raw energy burst forth. Countless hybrids died.

I waved the blue flag I had. My archers fired their blue arrow into the sky. The Ritualist was moving in his aerial attackers second. I had thought I would have had to wave the blue flag first, but the Ritualist was in his own little world. That was the issue when you only had yourself and monsters to plan. You couldn’t see the weakness of your strategies.

Explosions rippled through the air, creating another wave of destruction. I was already waving the orange flag to single the retreat. I followed my soldiers as we raced along the wall away from the breach. We would regroup at the North and South gates and then move for the plaza. I still had one more trap planned, but that could only do so much.