Tower Apocalypse 3, page 41
There were three different orb types—green, purple, and red.
I reached out a speculative hand and grabbed one of the green orbs.
It exploded in my palm, and strange power, reminiscent of the mechanical force I’d seen in the spaceships, flooded into my body.
YOU HAVE GAINED +50% LIFE STEAL
Amazing.
This had the same effect as the potions they’d taken away from us. Whatever damage we did would also heal ourselves.
A green sphere appeared in the right upper side of my vision beneath the portraits, along with a small timer that counted down from three hundred seconds.
I grabbed the purple and red ones next.
YOU HAVE GAINED +35% SKILL DAMAGE
YOU HAVE GAINED +35% PHYSICAL DAMAGE
I gestured at the orbs. “You guys should take these too. We need all the buffs we can get. I’m guessing they are rewards for winning the last fight.”
Emma and the others nodded, taking the orbs.
“What now?” Eymir asked. Emgra was quiet, but she stared at me quietly, clearly ready to obey my commands. Now that Thunderbeard and Ymir had fallen, I was the leader of our overall faction.
“Now we get back to the crystal,” I said. “The Demigods had to put it there for a reason. There’s got to be some items or buffs inside.”
“I was thinking it might upgrade our existing crystal or our minions,” Emma noted.
“Yeah, that could be it,” I replied. “Either way, it seems like it’s worth going for.”
The others nodded.
That made sense considering the overall logic of this world. They wouldn’t stick the crystal there for no reason.
Since the darkling weren’t here, I decided to focus on destroying the crystal faster, pushing my force into Tiamat’s brood shriekers. The process was awkward—I had to route the energy through Tiamat before sending it to their spawn. If it weren’t for the Fragment in my chest, I doubted I’d be able to do it.
“Tiamat, what’s our status, I asked.”
“It’s down to 72% percent, master. Every salvo shaves off about two percent after your buff.”
I quickly calculated the rate of fire, then turned to the remaining survivors. “Alright. We need three more minutes until we destroy the center crystal. Then we’ll wait for everyone else to respawn and go after their base. We won the first fight, so the second one should be even easier after we get the bonuses from the crystal.”
“The darkling base should be straight ahead, right?” Alice asked.
“I think so,” Eymir replied. He pointed into the distance. “Our territory, the mountain, was right over there.”
“Our mine was one space off from this too,” Emma added.
“So there’s a central area in the village, and then the three bases,” Alice said. “That makes sense.”
“That’s a good thing,” Emma said. “If we stay in the central village, that’s fairly aggressive and ahead of our base, but at least the darkling won’t be able to sneak past us.”
Tiamat’s voice rang in my head, cutting through our strategy session. “Master! The brood spawn found something interesting. Come back and check!”
I relayed Tiamat’s message to my team, and we retreated back to the very center of the village.
The crystal was now at just 49 percent.
Cracks appeared along its length, and shards fell to the ground, glowing just like the orbs that’d appeared around the minions moments ago.
I picked up the shard, and a new notification appeared.
YOU HAVE RECEIVED A SKILL / SPELL UPGRADE.
PLEASE CHOOSE AN ADDITIONAL TIER 1 SKILL / SPELL
My eyes widened.
Excellent.
This was just what we needed!
I opened my skill window quickly, knowing exactly what we needed. Nieven’s monsters were the main threat, and I only had one ability that could hit them from long range. Unfortunately, Schroder’s loss to Tigris meant I couldn’t rely on him—I had to get it done myself.
As for my spell…
I thought again to my teammates.
I hadn’t seen Schroder’s battle against Tigris, but I imagined it was pretty close. Similarly, Verdunn had almost killed Nieven on the spot with his full-powered ax throw.
If they were just a bit more powerful, they would have gotten it done.
“I choose [FORCE WAVE] and [BODY TRANSFER].”
A huge pile of raw stats would help my overall team more than a single solitary debuff.
The power from my removed skills flooded back into my body and I turned back to my teammates.
“These shards give skill buffs. I just got to choose a second skill and spell. Watch this.”
I activated [BODY TRANSFER], receiving a debuff that lowered my stats by five percent. However, that was a small price to pay, as the others all received a boost equal to twenty-five percent of my strength.
Even Eymir and Emgra stood up a little straighter after receiving my power.
I pointed at the crystals. “Eymir and Emgra, you take the next ones since you lost more people. Then we get the next two, alright?”
The two nodded, then grabbed the shards, absorbing them into their body and gaining new skills.
The now-familiar vibrating in the back of my mind reminded me of the revival timers. Schroder and Verdunn’s portraits were gone, and both Ymir and Thunderbeard were about to be revived again, along with the last dwergar, Ironsides the tank.
“We are done,” Eymir said, tapping his siege ballista. “Thank you, friend of the dwergar.”
“Thank you,” Emgra added with a slight bow.
A new wave of minions surged forth from all three entrances and made their way toward the center.
Two men rode at the lead of our minion line. Verdunn sat at the front, riding one of his bears. Schroder rode next to him on the elk.
Verdunn had a furious snarl on his face, and it looked like Schroder had been trying in vain to calm him down the entire ride back. “I’m going to kill that piece of shit. I’ll cut his head off more times than he can count! I don’t even want to end the game! We’ll just camp outside his respawning point!”
The center crystal cracked, abruptly ending Verdunn’s rant. Now there was just a small glowing core in the center, which was still getting destroyed by the steady blasts from the shriekers.
Several more skill buffs hit the ground, and I pointed.
“Verdunn, get one of those. Schroder, you too. These will help restore your skills.”
By then, Emma and Alice had already stepped forward to take theirs.
Verdunn pointed, confused. “Wait. These floating shards are buffs?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and hurry up. They’ll give you another tier-one skill and spell. I want to attack the darkling as soon as everyone is back. The longer we wait, the more time they have to recover.”
Verdunn spurred his bear forward, then took a shard.
Schroder awkwardly got off the elk, laughing a little. “I appreciate the help Verdunn, but I reminded myself I was never much of a rider.”
Then he took a shard too.
Ymir, Thunderbeard, and Ironsides arrived together.
The dwergar repeated the explanation from before, and they too took their shards.
However, there was one remaining.
“Devin. Take it.” Thunderbeard said.
Beside him, Schroder nodded. “You are the key to this alliance. We need you at top strength.”
I stepped forward and grabbed the last buff shard, but then an electric charge pushed me back.
My head felt like it was getting smacked, and a notification appeared.
ERROR: SHARD OVERUSE
CENTER MONUMENT FRAGMENTS CAN ADD ONLY A SINGLE SKILL AND SPELL EVERY MATCH
Emma stepped back, her hand over her head.
“Shit. That hurt.”
“Wait. You felt that too?” I asked. “And got the notification?”
She nodded and I cursed. “Great. Now they know too.”
I looked at the monument and saw it was down to 9 percent.
“Just a little bit more,” I said, pointing at the mangled floating crystal. Several more skill buffs dropped to the ground.
There were too many for our team to use, but the very center of the core seemed different. There was an additional power there, I could sense it.
But then, a new notification appeared, and my blood ran cold.
THE HUMAN CRYSTAL MONUMENT IS UNDER ATTACK.
REMAINING HEALTH: 96.7 PERCENT
WORLD BATTLE, PART 3
My guts sank into my feet.
What?
The darkling were on our base?
How was that possible?
We’d been watching the darkling entrance the whole time, and nobody had come through.
Emma shuddered, turning to stare at me. “What is going on?”
Schroder swore. “How is that possible? We didn’t see anyone on the ride there!”
He looked like he wanted to run back right away, and I couldn’t blame him.
Even the normally calm dwarves were freaking out. “Human Devin, what do we do?” asked Thunderbeard.
“We need to calm down,” I said. “If we freak out and act disorganized, we’re doomed. If we fight together, there’s no way we’ll lose—we just killed the darkling and we’ll do so again.”
I infused my voice with confidence I didn’t feel, and it seemed to work. My allies’ spirits rose.
“Verdunn,” I said. “Use your snake and have it scout ahead. They’ll have a hard time seeing it in the grass.”
He nodded, and then the snake slithered forward, lurking through the grass just like Tigris had.
“Everyone else, let’s smash this crystal,” I said. “We came all the way for this, no way we’ll lose it. Make sure you use long-range attacks. Anything else will bounce back.”
I gathered a [FORCE WAVE], then fired it out, just as Emma and Schroder used their own long-ranged spells. A flaming spinning whirlwind of fire erupted from Emma’s wand—she’d taken her [INFERNO] ability. Meanwhile, Schroder used his trusty [PIERCING RAY].
Ymir added his own [FORCE WAVE], just as my brood chargers unleashed another salvo.
The white light all mixed and then the crystal shattered.
THE CENTRAL MONUMENT HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY FELIX SCHRODER.
HUMAN MINIONS HAVE BEEN UPGRADED TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
White light enveloped our minions, and they transformed.
The melee units grew bigger and taller until they were the same size as Reinhardt. Despite their intimidating appearance, it was only a minor boost in their strength. They were bigger and stronger, but it wouldn’t cause a problem for the darkling, even their weak archer.
The spellcasters underwent a similar transformation. They grew taller and wider, and their wands transformed into knotted wooden staves.
The most dramatic change came to the final minion on horseback. The horse transformed into a pegasus, and the minions themselves now carried two weapons—a crossbow for long-ranged attacks and a halberd to sweep away close-ranged opponents.
Unlike the others, this minion had an actually sizeable amount of force.
“That’s it?” Emma groaned. “Shit, Dev. This is just what I thought might happen. It’s not enough.”
“Is that it?” Thunderbeard laughed. “Just a minion upgrade?”
I shook my head. I’d played enough games to know that super minions made a world of difference. “Look how fast we’re attacking.”
As I watched, our force effortlessly dispatched the other faction’s minions without taking any damage.
After destroying the enemy wave, the minions halted, as if deciding to go between the darkling territory and the dwergar territory.
They were waiting for someone to lead them.
An idea began to form, one that would either mean our victory or our defeat. I just needed a bit more information.
“Verdunn, who’s in our base?” I asked.
“It’s just Nieven and his two minions,” Verdunn replied.
My eyes widened in surprise. Part of me had thought it might even be a neutral monster. “How did they get past our towers?”
Verdunn scowled. “Some new skill. My snake can barely see him. He’s turned himself into a ghost, just like his summons. I’m guessing the towers don’t affect him. That must have been how he snuck past us too.”
In MOBAs back home, you couldn’t attack the base without destroying the towers. It seemed like the Demigods had no such rules.
I nodded, immediately making my decision.
If it was just Nieven, then the darkling base was extremely vulnerable to attack. Nieven was their strongest fighter.
Besides, I knew how I could hold him back. I’d lost my skills, but I still had my items.
I pulled up my inventory, bringing up the Pitchfork of Vengeance.
“Verdunn. Go.” I said. “Schroder, Alice, you too. And Thunderbeard. Ymir. All the darkling. I’ll hold Nieven back, without killing him. That way, he won’t respawn. With our minions, we’ll out-race him.”
“What about me?” Emma asked.
I shot her a wink, once again feigning confidence that I didn’t feel. “You’re coming with me, of course. He won’t have any idea what hit him.”
Of course, there was another reason why I brought her with me. Like me, Emma wouldn’t be able to fight Carnilia with full power. We’d hosted her in our village and became friends with her.
It was cowardly, but I’d rather let the dwergar and the other humans kill her. I wouldn’t be able to do it by my own hand, but I’d order her death all the same.
“Shai, take us back. Reiny, get up here with us. Tiamat, follow behind and bring your brood.”
Shai knelt down so Emma, Reiny, and I could get on. He shot back to our base at top speed, with Tiamat and her brood thundering behind us.
I had no idea what was waiting for us back at our base. Nieven was unpredictable as a snake. That was how he’d snuck past us to begin with.
Emma was nervous, but I could see the grim determination on her face. Bringing her with me was a risk, but I wanted her long-ranged backup. Besides, the extra twenty percent from [BODY TRANSFER] would go far in helping her survive any attack.
“Emma, focus on the summons. We want to keep Nieven alive. He’s only going to have one skill and spell, so once we finish them, he’s toast.”
“How did you and Verdunn hit them?” she asked.
“You have to put your force into the attack. Just like on the tower floors,” I said.
She pursed her lips grimly. “Alright. I’m not the best at that.”
“That’s fine,” I replied. “Hit the summons when you can. When you can’t, just hit Nieven. Don’t kill him, but stop him from casting spells.”
“Got it. I’ll try. And let’s make sure we don’t, alright? I don’t trust that revival thing.”
I nodded.
If I were being honest, it wasn’t just the revival…
We were now the only defenders of mankind’s base. If Nieven killed us, there was no way we’d respawn in time.
We crossed through into humanity’s territory, and the first thing I noticed was the spectral smoke flaring in the distance. The white substance was like a beacon, pointing out exactly where our base was.
Our towers were still standing, and they even spawned new rows of super minions, but it didn’t do us any good. Our base was still under attack.
“In the games back on Earth, the minions spawned from our base,” Emma said, “If they did here, they could help us defend the crystal.”
“Yeah, and our base couldn’t be attacked until the tower was destroyed. A fat lot of good that did us…maybe the Demigods copied it from somewhere else.”
I shook my head, brushing the thought aside. We had no time for what could or should happen. With humanity on the line, we had to deal with reality, not hypotheticals.
Shai moved faster and faster, continuing to build momentum.
We flew past the craggy terrain, and soon we were back at the mine and its steel floors covered with coal. Nieven was just ahead of us, along with his two summons.
Our central crystal crackled as he continued pouring out damage.
It was down to just seventy-two percent.
“Shai, throw Reiny in there. Reiny, hit Nieven and yank back.”
“Yes, master!” Reiny said excitedly as the wyrm launched him into the fray.
Reinhardt went spinning into the air, his attached hammers spinning wildly.
“I came in like a wrecking ball!” Emma sang.
I snorted, unable to hold back. We were in such a grim situation, yet she always knew how to lift my spirits.
Indeed, Reiny came in exactly like a wrecking ball, flying through the air and then slamming into the manticore. At the last second, I used the same tactic as before, transferring my force to Reinhardt to increase his speed and momentum.
He slammed into the manticore, knocking it to the ground. The impact was far more impressive than any of our other attacks. An explosion of white ectoplasm flew into the air—Reiny had blasted an enormous hole in the ghostly beast.
Nieven turned, a shocked look on his face. “Devin!” he hissed.
He waved his staff, and I felt a telekinetic push trying to knock us back, but then Emma fired off an [INFERNO].
Flames exploded all around Nieven, erupting from the ground and dropping from overhead. I felt Emma pushing her force into the attack, catching not just Nieven, but even his summons and Reinhardt in the hellfire.
Since Emma and I were in the same squad, Reiny wouldn’t receive any damage, which gave him the perfect advantage in the fight.
He let out a triumphant roar, then smashed the dragon in the head, punching off a huge chunk of flesh with his hammer.
