Heroic Retribution entered Longdales walls with little obstruction. There were still a few people fleeing with as many possessions as they could carry. But they gave Jude and his company a wide berth.
They continued through town, and Jude was beginning to worry. He hadn’t seen Theodwin in quite some time. When they last parted, Theodwin was going to check on the status of Longdale and get back with him. But Jude hadn’t seen Theodwin at all.
Finding out where to go turned out to be easy. The pillar of dark clouds, the ruins of the citadel, and the sound of battle all pointed to one direction.
Shock covered the faces of everyone in Heroic Retribution when they finally came close enough to see the battlefield.
***
Morgan’s plan was going well. Each Major Raid had met little resistance, and they were able to set up the formation seamlessly. No <demon> would escape this battle!
There were no communication functions between the Major Raids, so they relied on scouts and trumpets. Morgan was in charge of the principal Raid from the east. It would be his job to do the damage and the other Raids to hold them all in.
In front of the Major Raid, they could see the congregation of <demons>. They could see the monolith doorway of blood. Many demons had just walked through this doorway, and it had grown dim. The demons that had walked out were all covered in blood. They would then walk a small distance away, sit down as the blood on their bodies congealed into a cocoon-like surface.
“Sir, all is ready,” a scout reported.
“Sound the charge,” Morgan yelled. Perhaps they could catch these <demons> unprepared!
***
Lerhadar, the <Demon Lord>, had yet to consolidate his power fully. <Demon Lord> wasn’t originally part of the <System>, but something that was forced onto it. Yet it still followed some of the same rules that other classes and monsters had to follow. This meant that his skills needed to be Ranked Up and unlocked.
Because none of his <Demon Lord> skills had been ranked up, he only had access to a limited amount of skills. However, Lerhadar was not from this universe. He was already a being of immense power and understanding. Similar to Jude, he could view the internal workings of his skills and could quickly empower them to at least Rank III. But he didn’t have time to mature these skills entirely. He had been too busy working the Monolith Gate.
But even still, he had prepared one skill just in case: <Demon Invasion>.
<Demon Invasion> would summon a small army of <imps> and other <demons>. They weren’t true lifeforms and would only last a few hours.
The nearly 200 weak ranked <demons> had passed through the <Hells Blood Gate> and were beginning their transformation. That was when the horns sounded.
Lerhadar looked over at Guudnash and the remaining high level <demons>, “It is time to command the hordes of hell into battle.”
With one hand on the gate and the other he raised and said, “<Demon Invasion>!”
A rumbling could be felt through the ground that was not caused by the charging humans. Instead, it resulted from the <Hells Blood Gate>! Lerhadar was a powerful entity even before he became the <Demon Lord> or even a <demon> of this world. How could he use a simple <Demon Invasion>? Instead, he channeled the spell through the <Hells Blood Gate> that he was already controlling, amplifying the effect by a large magnitude.
<Imps>, <Winged Imps>, <Oracle Imps>, and <Lesser Demons> started flowing out of the gate like a burst dam.
“Take control of what you can,” Lerhadar said, “and leave the rest to delay the humans.”
Most of these <demons> were uncontrollable and directly charged the incoming people. But Guudnash and the other <Demons> were slowly taking control were slowly taking control and forming a large but restrained mob.
***
Morgan was happy to see so few <demons> at first, but once they started coming out of the Monolith Gate, his expression turned sour. The paper white demon in the dark shadowy armor, smiled at Morgan revealing his sharp teeth. Morgan felt a chill go down his back and began to wonder if this was a trap for them rather than one for the <demons>.
But the plan was already underway. There was no turning back without countless losses. Morgan could only push forward.
“Raid Five and Six, push forward more. You are lagging behind.” Morgan ordered. “Raid two, don’t advance too fast, keep an orderly line!”
Morgan had twelve raids under his Major Raid. The first eight was aligned side by side and contained mostly Warriors and Rogues with a few Healers. Two more raids were similarly composed and were to act as backups in case there was a raid wipe. The last two raids contained either ranged Rogues or Wizards. Raid eleven being Rogues and Raid twelve being Wizards.
“Raid eleven, start your barrage,” commanded Morgan as the flow of <demons> became near.
It wasn’t the optimal range for the rogues, but Morgan wasn’t used to leading such a large army of people. Not that there was a better candidate than Morgan, in newbie town there wasn’t a need for such a leader. The only one who qualified and had the appropriate experience was Lord Merek.
Spells started to be unleashed by the Wizards, so Morgan stepped in, “Raid twelve, stop attacking. Conserve your mana for the big targets.”
The two forces began to clash. The <formation> that mitigated damage across the group was only useful against a powerful boss like attack. Hordes of smaller beasts like they were facing now, did little to spread out the damage. However, the <formation> did give them a better advantage at killing. The use of <Coordinate> could allow one person who could not reach the front line to infuse their attack power with someone who could. <Coordinate> could also be used to switch people out who were wounded with someone who was fresh.
The battle continued forward as a straight up clash between the Warriors and <Imps>. <Oracle Imps> stood behind invigorating, healing and attacking. <Lesser Demons> had yet to make their appearance and <Winged Imps> seemed to have disappeared.
All the sudden, Raid One started to suffer enormous casualties. <Winged Imps> began to fly over and around this raid. They targeted the Healers and the back line of <Warriors> which disrupted the <Formation>! With no one healing and no one switching out placement with wounded <Warriors> casualties started mounting.
This made the inexperienced trainees in Raid One to break away from the battle and flee. The <lesser demons> then made their move and quickly annihilated more than half of Raid One.
“Raid eleven, stop barrage and focus on flyers!” Morgan changed orders. “Raid nine, support and fill in for Raid one.”
***
Jude and his raid group finally appeared near the battle ground. From here, he could see the never-ending tide of <demons> flowing out of the gate. Vast hordes were also being pressed against the north and south raid groups.
It was at this time that the blood cocoons burst open. From the cocoons, a myriad of new <demons> appeared. But the most notable were the <Rock Demons>. They were large hulking creatures between two to three meters in height. Their long thick arms reached all the way to the ground, and they walked similar to a gorilla. They were covered in shards of rocks like slate and four soulless eyes.
Converged <Beams> from a large group of Wizards started to target these creatures. They had a hefty amount of armor and a ton of health, so they didn’t go down quickly.
“Boss, what is the plan?” Krinn asked.
“We need to get close to that Monolith Gate to stop it,” Jude said.
“How are we going to do that?” Wen asked. “There’s a cosh’ing army of <demons> in the way.”
“Just wait. The <Demon Lord> is almost out of mana and that flow will stop.” Wen could see that in Jude’s eyes there was a glint of magic.
He continued, “When that happens, it will be a while before the <Demon Lord> will have enough mana to launch another large-scale summoning like this one. Plus, I can see that this sort of summoning has drained a lot of the demonic corruption in the area. He might not even be willing to make another large summoning.”If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
“From what I see,” Krinn added, “he may not need too. The north and south are clearly weaker forces, and they might not last much longer. The east Major Raid seems to be the strongest, but it is being pushed back.”
“Exactly,” Jude said, “this is our opportunity to step in. Things will become chaotic, and we will use that opening to push in. This will give us the opportunity to break through the enemy lines and strike the head.”
“It’s a dangerous gamble, but I don’t see a better option.” Krinn agreed.
Heroic Retribution contained less than 30 people, and in the overall battle, it was small. Using a variety of <Spectral Eyes>, Jude guided his group the safest way possible through the streets and destroyed buildings.
However, the best route was also blocked by a <Rock Demon>. From a distance they were frightening, but up close they were a heart-wrenching nightmare. Each of its breaths exuded a cloud of sulfur and a tinge of fire. As it saw them, it began to move. Each step it took shook the ground.
Jude began to issue orders, “Front line, form up. Activate <Coordinate>.
“Rogues, spread out and enable <Hide>. Attack only after the Warriors sufficiently <Taunt> the target.
“Ranged Rogues, stay alert for adds, your arrows won’t do much to that thing.
“Wizards, prepare to converge on my <beam>.”
Jude shouted, “<Spectral Objects>!” The hulking demon rushed in, but before it could slam itself into the front line it ran into a wall.
<Spectral Objects> was now at Rank X and could create much larger and more complex objects than it could in the past. But even this could not stop the brute. However, Jude had expected this. The wall he created was to dampen the impact of the <Rock Demons> charge so that the Warriors wouldn’t have to face the full brunt of it.
Even with the <Rock Demon> slowed, the impact on the front line was tremendous. If not for the <formation> created by <Coordinate> the front two lines would have been scattered and thrown into the air. The massive hit would have also taken the lives of at least two people, but now it was spread out across the all the Warriors.
<Taunts> and attacks then began to hail down on the beast form the Warriors.
The Healers began chanting their healing spells while Rogues emerged from behind the beast trying to strike out at weak points. The Wizards also started chanting in preparation to converge their <Beam> magic with Jude’s.
Jude waited a few seconds for the other Wizards to be ready and then said, “<Beam>!”
The powerful and frenzied energy burst out of Jude’s hands striking the stone surface of the demon. Moments later the other Wizard’s <Beams> converged onto Jude’s <Beam> exponentially increasing the attack power. Soon the rock surface of the demon began to glow red from the heat, but this didn’t stop him from attacking the Warriors as it tried to make its way to the back line.
The Warriors were doing their jobs well and were keeping the <Rock Demon> pin down and <Taunted>. Krinn’s Axe was brutal, but even he had a hard time with the rock skin. Wen had more success, as she targeted the mouth and eyes with a spear, but even then she was not able to cause any real damage.
This <Rock Demon> must be at level 50, Jude mused. It’s a good thing that it’s not very intelligent.
By the time it was down to half health, the other Wizards had all run out of mana. They all sat down to <meditate> as the rest pressed on with the attack.
Jude had some success lately in ranking up his skills through the Modicuit, most of the <Spectral Magic> skills were now at Rank IX or X. Even though Spell Analyst skills were not visible in the Modicuit, he had not neglected them or forgotten to continue to train in them. So he cut off the <beam> and prepared a <Skill Link>.
<Skill Link> was now Rank II so this meant that he could link three skills together. Linking two skills was already hard, linking three skills was nearly impossible. But letting the skill automate itself would make be usable for the meantime, even if he didn’t get any experience for ranking it up. Plus, this was also the only way for him to links skills from his Spell Analyst class.
First Jude linked <Spectral Eye> with <Analyze Magic> to generate the effect that would find weaknesses this would produce a high chance for a critical hit. Then he linked that pair with <Specter>. After Rank V, <Specter> got the advantage to ignore 50% armor. Jude had gotten it to Rank IX, and it now ignored 75% armor. Jude guessed that all these effects stacked together would be devastating to a <Rock Demon>.
“<Spectral Analyze Specter>,” Jude said with a wave of his hand.
The purple specter formed a few feet away from Jude and flew through the air towards the enemy. It had an ethereal half body, and its eyes were like bright shining stars. From the specters perspective, it could see through the stony layers of the <Rock Demon> and the gaps in between. It could see the muscles and organs and all that supported its life.
This specter could only strike out nine times, but it did so extremely quick hitting several key areas. Each blow was a critical hit, and each one ignored the maximum amount of defense. Still, the disparity between Jude’s level and the <Rock Demons> level was too great. The damage was mitigated.
This combination would have outright killed a <Rock Demon> at Jude’s level, but since they were so far apart, it didn’t even take 5% of its health. Fortunately, Jude had a whole wall of people blocking him from the <Rock Demon>. Even if it did take a minute or two to form the <Skill Link>, it was worth it.
Before he started working on the next one, he activated the skill that he got after <Skill Link> reached Rank II, <Macro Magic>. <Macro Magic> allowed him to store a set of <Skill Links> into a quick use macro. For each rank it would allow him one additional macro to store. It was only at Rank I, so inside the macro he had combined: <Spectral Weapons>, <Weapon Proficiency> and
. This imbued each of the 8 swords with the sword arts from <Weapon Proficiency> and became autonomous so Jude wouldn’t have to directly control them. And because <Weapon Proficiency> was also in the link, when they executed
they would remain active. The only downside was that there was about a minute delay between each sword’s use of
, but at the same time, Jude didn’t have to expend mana on it either.
He unleashed the swords knowing that they would do minimal damage against such an armored target. But that minimal damage, when combined with the other Warriors and Rogues, would add up. It was like adding another eight people to the fight.
The battle continued to be hard fought and Jude continued to unleash <Skill Linked> specters towards the <Rock Demon>. Finally, it reached 26% HP!
“Keep on going guys. We are almost there!” Krinn <Bellowed>. He wasn’t in the <Strengthening Stance> so it wasn’t as powerful, but it still roused the courage of the Raid.
“RAWR!” The <Rock Demon> roared back in response.
25% health remaining. Now the <demon> was no longer a slate gray but started turning red. The monster was enraged! He started swinging the trunk like arms with wild abandon. The <formation> began to crumble!
Wen jumped out from the second line using <coordinate> to replace a nearly dead frontline Warrior. She then brandished her spear to block the overwhelming blows. She had always been the best at <coordinate> and was able to link up with the Warriors on either side. This not only straightened out the formation but gave her a secure hold as the thick stony arms came crashing down on her once again.
She held fast and held the line, but the cost was high. Even with <coordinate> and the <formation> she took a massive drop in health. Blood seeped out of her mouth.
“<Spectral Objects> <Spectral Objects> <Spectral Objects>,” Jude roared. A wall formed in front of Wen and numerous chains started to wrap around the <Rock Demon>. But to the enraged <Rock Demon> they were as flimsy as paper. However, it did give Wen enough time to chug a health potion.
“Wizards, prepare another <Beam> attack!” Jude shouted.
It hadn’t been enough time for them to recuperated their mana, but since it was already down to 25%, it might be just enough, especially if he did another <Skill Link>.
Jude created another <Skill Link> like he did with <Specter>, using both <Spectral Eye> and <Analyze Magic>. He wished he had thought of this at the start of the first battle. But at the time, they didn’t know how powerful these <Rock Demons> truly were.
The other wizards were ready by the time he finished the <Skill Link>. “<Spectral Analyze Beam>!”
A <Spectral Eye> formed above Jude, and his vision shifted to it. The whole world changed with this view to a combination of spectral vision and the neon lines and circuitry that he typically saw in <Analyze Magic>. When he focused on the <Rock Demon>, he could see the dark soul inside its chest burning like a black flame. Surrounding it were the intricate neon lines that made up his physical body.
Jude was able to focus his gaze and peel away the different layers that made up the <Rock Demon>. He quickly found the most vulnerable spot on the beast’s chest. It was a place that the rock no longer covered adequately and exposed the flesh underneath.
Jude then quickly moved the eye to align with that spot towards one of the beast’s necessary organs for maximum effect. Then the <Beam> shot out of the eye, making contact with the weak point. The other wizards then combined their <Beams> with Jude’s as the whole thing rocketed up in power.
Jude had to expend his entire concentration on keeping the <Beam> on the weak spot. After all, the <Rock Demon> was not staying still.
The <Rock Demon> was madly trying to push forward and was dragging the entire line of Warriors with it. But each second the <Beam> stayed on, the stronger it got and the wilder the <Rock Demon> became.
Ellie had been fighting this whole time as well. She had two ranged attacks, <Divine Light> and <Hammer Throw>. Occasionally when someone was critically injured, she would hammer them back into shape with <Flesh Smith>. Then she would continue attacking. But now she saw that the demon was making its way to Jude and Jude was so focused on his offense that he didn’t notice, she had to make a move to save him.
Even with two lines of Warriors pushing against the <Rock Demon> it still moved forward. Ellie ran over to Jude. She was a Blacksmith with an Elite class, so her strength was quiet amazing even if she had a small body. With a single arm, she picked him up and kept welding her hammer with the other hand. At the same time, she continued to utilize both <Divine Light> and <Hammer Throw>.
The beam of light from <Divine Light> would crash through the dark clouds and slam against the demon for a few tens of seconds. Then she would throw her hammer with <Hammer Throw>, and it would expand in size and slam into the stone surface of the demon. In the next instant, the hammer would be back in her hands once again.
Jude’s concentration did not break even with being roughly carried around. The <Beam> continued out of the eye moving every which way. But as everything moved, many of the Wizards could not keep up. Either they already ran out of mana, or their angle was no longer able to connect with Jude’s <Spectral Eye> movements.
Cairfray was fantastic, not only was she able to keep her <Beam> going, but was also able to move while keeping it active! Most spells required one to stay in one place without moving. <Beam> was most defiantly a stand in one place and shoot kind of spell. Even Jude wasn’t sure if he could move and use <Beam> and was only able to do such a thing because it was attached to <Spectral Eye>.
Cairfray’s talent was also exceptional with <Meditation> as she also had regained nearly her entire mana pool.
With all these things combined, the <Rock Demon> could not last. Jude was consistently hitting its most vulnerable point and Cairfray never relented her own <beam> allowing the multiplier to continue. The combined <Beams> ate through the demon’s tough skin, through the fat and muscle and then into the innards of the beast. The organs quickly boiled and liquefied. The <Rock Demons> eyes went dim with death. But it’s sturdy rocky exterior kept it from falling over. The hole opened up by the <Beam> attack gushed forth with the deliquesce organs from inside the body.
Everyone got a notification that they defeated the <Rock Demon> and a cheer went out. Jude regained his senses and was pleasantly surprised to be in Ellie''s arms, even if it was only one of them.
Ellie noticed it too and quickly dropped him, “Don’t take this the wrong way. I was just keeping you from danger.”
Jude smiled, “I guess I need to get into more danger then.”
Ellie blushed, but their flirting was abruptly ended by another loud boom from the battle field.
“Everyone rest up,” Jude said, “this is only the start.”
Then he looked at the EXP he gained and was disappointed. Considering the amount of work they went through, he figured that they would have gotten more.