“ALL RANGED UNITS, FOCUS FIRE ON THE SMALL MONSTERS! DO NOT AIM FOR THE BIG GUY!”

“Are you sure about that, Tower Master?” Madame asked, but she was already targeting the smaller monsters, aiming to maim.

“Yep. How long does it take you to cast Final Revel?”

“I see. That does make sense. About three seconds.”

“Not ideal, but okay. Start casting it when he’s five seconds out from the wall.”

She nodded calmly. I had wondered if the size of the monster would be a factor, or the fact it was a rare or an elite or something, but apparently not. It did look more or less like the Alpha, though it seemed to be taking my existence a lot less personally.

“Versai, when Madame gets the big guy locked down and debuffed, go out there and do your thing. Don’t worry about the little guys, we’ll keep them off you.”

“Gladly, Tower Master.” Versai looked downright excited. The big monster spun and fell back half a step. I snorted. Because he was bulling through the smaller monsters, he was between Pomoroi and her targets. Pomoroi didn’t see that as a particular problem. Pomoroi’s seen worse and didn’t give a damn then either.

“Tsk! She’s going to take the fun out of it.” Versai was lightly bouncing her hand up and down on the hilt of her sword.

“Versai… what exactly did you do for the Queen?”

“Oh. This and that. Mostly this.”

Madame started chanting. The Blue Roses, who had mostly been hanging around looking mildly interested, joined her. They raised their hands and started a strange, sing-song cadence, something with a slow, steady rhythm but a wildly varying high-low pitch. Each Rose sang their own portion of the chant. Four discordant melodies merged into one catchy sound, anchored by Madame’s voice.

It was the damnedest thing I had ever seen, and I had recently seen some pretty damned things. Then it got demoted to second most damned. The spell completed, and…

It was like a chemical spill spreading in mid-air. Like gasoline poured over clear water. The shimmering colors and swirling lights, each light making its own sound as it shifted through the color gradient. It covered most of the width of the street, just outside our barriers. The big monster ran into it and collapsed. Not injured, from what I could tell. It seemed like it had momentarily forgotten how its legs worked.

It did manage to sort itself out, but it was moving like it was drunk. Stumbling from side to side. At one point it was moving in a little circle, like it was lost in a fog.

The double batteries of the Mikas and the Young Gentlemen were shredding the other monsters. They would reach the front line eventually, but there was a little time. “Versai- Go!”

She threw her head back and screamed. Not in fear, in outrage. In violence. Since the day I met her, I thought Versai was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. That beauty vanished in one long ululation. What remained was pure demon.

Blond hair flew like a streamer as Versai launched herself off the wall. She should have landed on the hedgehogs. Should have.

“Vermin!” Her shield glowed and seemed to drag Versai forward through the air, smashing into the head of the giant monster and knocking it to the ground. This time, it was a lot slower to get up.

Her long blade flashed silver bright in her hands, like mithril birds flying through the air and ripping up the meat of the monster in front of her. She went for the joints first. That blade play she had honed in the endless time between rounds was fully on display. Fast, inhumanly fast, but more importantly- it cut. No matter what. If Versai saw it, and it was in reach, it could be cut.

She didn’t just dismember the monster- Versai jointed him like Soma breaking down a chicken. Faster than my eye could follow, her long sword slipped into a knee. Cutting through the cartilage, slicing the tendons, popping the joint open without ever cutting bone. The stump sprayed blood madly. Some scorched part of my mind thought the severed limb looked very tidy. No ragged bits hanging off. Then a hand came off at the wrist. Then the elbow.

The giant monster tried to bite at her, and she got her sword into the side of its jaw. She moved so fast, she dislocated it’s damn jaw! First the left, then ducked under and hit the right joint, popping the whole damn mandible off, before reversing and letting her blade bite through the throat.

There was a flash of silver, and she was strolling back, flicking the blood off her blade as the giant collapsed behind her. Long blond hair trailing behind her like a battle standard. The demon in its element, striding through the blood of her enemies in a burning city.

I had seen Versai’s war face. I’d never forget it.

Up on the rooftops, the Mikas were raining death down on the monsters that had made it through the artillery. Madame hadn’t dropped the spell. More and more of the horrors piled up in front of the barricade, lost, stumbling around, attacking each other. I could see the wounded ones slowly dying. Their wounds got worse as I watched. They bled faster. It didn’t take long for the monsters to become paralyzed and collapse on the cobblestones. Blood pumping out, puddling, slicking the stones with their brief lives.

Rakim was standing next to the Mikas. She had resumed her old job, cracking the armor so the Mikas could massacre the monsters more efficiently.

Sebastian was raining hell from the other side of the street. The Young Gentlemen under his command had apparently been sandbagging when they were working for me, as their rate of fire and accuracy went way up.

Sebastian pulled out a damn heavy looking crossbow from somewhere, set up on the edge of a roof and started dropping bodies. I don’t know if the crossbow was enchanted, but wherever he hit, it turned lime green and visibly festered and corroded as I watched. No such thing as a flesh wound with him. Even if it wasn’t an instant kill, the monsters he shot never got more than a dozen steps before they died. It worked slower against the armor, but it did work.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The monsters pressed close, but never pushed our lines. Just too much firepower, covering too much distance. They ran pretty quick, those monsters, but the weight of fire crushed them.

I kept an eye on the sole Madame’s Regular that I had summoned. He… did exactly as advertised. He fixed up the damaged hedgehog, then threw what looked like molotov cocktails at any monsters that wandered too close. He seemed to have a nigh infinite supply. The flames didn’t last all that long, though. About eight seconds, I’d guess. On the other hand, he could throw a new one every twenty seconds, so it was good enough. Need to summon a bunch more for them to really be effective. And they were dirt cheap.

Another thing Madame was wrong about. Interesting that she hadn’t understood the adjustment to time the way my other summons had. Maybe because she wasn’t properly one of my summons yet?

The wave was getting cleaned up. Versai swaggered back onto the wall, not even glancing at the monsters behind her.

“God’s Teeth, Versai! The Queen’s Guard really did you good.”

“Mmm. It was a pretty satisfying job.”

“Looks like you earned ‘Contemptuous Blow.’ Madame seemed fascinated. Versai’s smile was unashamedly smug.

“Better. ‘Inherent Superiority.’ It’s a third order Discipline.”

Madame looked genuinely impressed, but quickly hid it behind bland approval.

“Sorry, third order discipline?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. It’s a bit like Mika’s Shield Tower, I guess?” Versai shrugged. “I can only use it in single combat against a foe that is stronger than I am. Once used, it weakens the enemy, stuns them briefly, and gives me a boost to strength.”

I blinked. “I specifically asked you about this! Specifically this!”

“You kinda did. And you kind of didn’t. And I don’t want to talk about how I learned it. So. You know. Let's drop it here.”

“We are not dropping it there-”

“We’ve killed this batch,” Madame interjected. “Any further orders?”

“What? Oh.” I blinked, forced to shift gears. “Osain! Can I move a barricade after it has been set up?”

“By magic? No.”

Adorable. “Versai, Thugs, jump down and pick up the first row of hedgehogs and place them across the street, two paces ahead of where they are now.”

I looked over at Rakim. “Rakim, anything you can do to improve our defenses?”

“Probably?”

That never gets less annoying! “Go into the warehouse, see what’s in there, and report back on any improvement you could make over “chest high walls going the width of the street!”

“Yes Sir!”

Alright, alright. What’s next? We had one giant, but we could have Versai as our giant killer? Two giants? That’s what the spell tower is for. That and clearing end-game doom stacks of monsters. Am I set? Just more of the same? Hmm.

No, no I do not buy this. Too much unit diversity for it to be this simple. Too much emphasis on melee units being necessary. It’s the vicious cycle of game development- if you don’t clearly indicate mechanics and routes, players complain that things are hidden, or the game is pointlessly hard. Make them explicit, and they whine about hand holding, dumbing down and lack of challenge.

The Devs might be cruel and unfair, but they were stuck in the same cruel and unfair trap that other, non-necromantic developers were. They had to both point you directly at the solution, AND try to surprise you. Well. Let it never be said I was one to ignore the misery of the Devs. I must do my duty, exploit their pain, and make it worse.

Anyone I wanted to summon? At this point… no. “Osian, can I summon more advanced units now?”

“Err. Yes. Some. Experienced Thugs, Made Men, and Whales. Also, you can recruit the Disbanded Militia now.”

I checked my pouch. If I had spit, I would have choked on it. Two hundred and forty three Rune Bones, and I knew that only a hundred of that came from the regular monsters. Three were left over from the last wave.

“How much was the Militia?”

“Disbanded Militia are twenty rune bones each.” Osain carefully emphasized the first term. There’s a splash of yellow paint if I ever saw one. Thanks, people who refuse to git gud. Appreciate the assist.

“I’ll take ten! How much are Made Men and Whales?”

“Made Men are fifteen, Whales are thirty.” I almost choked.

“What do the whales do?”

“Well, they spend a lot of money in my establishment.” Madame chimed in.

“Yes, I guessed. Combat wise, how are they useful?”

“Oh! They all purchased enchanted rings that provide damage bonuses to up to three targets for twenty seconds per activation, with a thirty second cool down.” She smiled proudly. And why not? That sounds like major customer loyalty.

Gonna pass on the Whales for now. “Sebastian, what are the combat capabilities of Made Men?”

“The same as the Young Gentlemen, but their range is longer, they hit harder, and are adept at finding sneaky units.”

Damn, now that is worth it!

“Osain, Two Made Men!”

I’d have to bank the rest. The Disbanded Militia filed out, each carrying, bless them, a long spear.

“Are they… wearing winter coats?”

“What? What winter coats? They are wearing gambesons.” Versai gave me a very odd look, but… come on. They look like winter coats.

“Cloth armor any good at stopping monster claws?”

“Yes, actually. It’s the blunt force impact that tends to be lethal.” The militia had solid helmets and a chainmail head and neck covering. Looked good to me, but the best bit was the long spears. Not quite pike-long, but long enough to reach over the hedgehogs without problems. Bonus damage against large? Maybe. We would see.

“Well. Guess we’re about to find out.”

“Sir? We’ve got options, but I need time.” Rakim called from the warehouse. “At least a few minutes.”

“A few minutes? Soldier, you’re dreaming!”

“Miyuki sees the snake hidden in the grass!”

“We’ve got incoming!” Sebastian roared from the rooftop.

Not the usual monsters this time. Low, dense looking things, with thick layers of armor. Ripping down the street. Ram-horns lowered, wicked points jabbing forward. Wall Breakers. I’d been worried about them for a long time.

“Militia! Plant your spears and BRACE FOR IMPACT!”