It was time to begin the offensive, which I decided to start by creating a large, pointlessly complicated glow of mana around me as I stood away from the main defenses. It alerted the enemy that there was something extraordinary going on, but it was an acceptable trade to hide the sudden burst of speed.
The complicated fractal patterns of mana spread and faded, and then I threw myself toward the nearest boss, a mile away from the defenses, with no armored figure riding it.
I moved far faster than I had ever displayed, and at the same time, I kept pumping out mana from my boots, once again selling the idea that it was not a combination of skill, perk, and extremely high stats, but an item.
Their ability to block the External Skills, and my own fake blocking forced me to pull some tricks. Against another enemy, it would have likely failed, but luckily, Thomas was far too willing to believe my extreme abilities before believing his own incompetence holding him back.
As I ran, I also used Observe through the metal, doing my best to catch any potential hidden enemy mixed in with the lizards. The last thing I needed was to be ambushed by another skill blocker.
My increased Wisdom allowed me to identify two assailants, but luckily, they were weak enough to die under one mana attack, concealed among many similar attacks that had been targeting the lizards.
Eight seconds later, I was in front of the first lizard. A rapid climb, combined with several rapid blows was all that was needed to take it down, and the lizards surrounding me went crazy. The moment it fell, I cut through his heart and pulled the crystal, this time intact, slowly degrading.
I didn't even have the time to take the claws before I ran toward the next boss, absorbing the crystal on the way.
It worked the same as the other crystal, but with two differences. One, the skill reward was considerably higher.
[Meditation of Decay (Mythic) 101 ->103]
Second, the sensation of fire that it created inside me didn't fade away completely after it flared, instead staying there like a soft flame, making me wonder if I was pushing my luck unnecessarily. However, I ignored that risk, and moved toward the next boss monster, deliberately moving away from the armored soldiers moving to confront me.
It seemed that they didn't expect me to cut that deep, which was an obvious mistake. One that I gladly punished by killing three more bosses, but this time, I chose to seal the crystals rather than absorb them.
The burning sensation in me still lingered, so I didn't want to risk it.
[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]
At a distance, I watched the modified anti-air take down the flying mounts of the response force. With the mountain peak blocking me I couldn't see their actions, but it was still time to return. With the lizards going crazy, I hoped that I had given Rosie all she needed to sneak in.
If not, I could have ended up having to find a way to dig a twenty-mile tunnel.
Another fake flare of mana, and I rushed back to the defenses, only to see a scary sight. The enemy squad had already engaged with our forces, wreaking havoc. Already, a great number of them had to retreat with their armor ruined. Yet, if it wasn't for the superior defensive capabilities of my work, the situation would have been much worse.
But, even with it, I doubted it would have held without Harold's lead.
"Team three. Delta position. Team five, defend the fallen!" Harold shouted even as he did his best to fight against three enemies at once, pushing his armor's absorption to the limit. He was brave. The enemy seemed reluctant to split in a way they couldn't defend each other, and Harold's presence meant that they didn't have to.
Still, without their flying mount, the greatest threat they provided was negated.
Unfortunately, once I returned, I could see the boss monsters already starting to move. Not all of them, but enough to be a disaster.
I needed to force them away before they managed to kill half of my forces.
I moved forward. Unsurprisingly, I was hit by five of those skill blockers at once, and I once again felt my skills being locked, removing my mobility advantage once more.
I used another fake mana block, but I didn't need to retreat, not when I had my blade ready. I started attacking them with full-powered mana attacks, giving them two options. Stay together and tank the attacks, or dodge.
Unsurprisingly, they chose the second.
"Siege weapons, focus on the left," I ordered, hoping to pin at least one of them despite the approach of the beast wave. Four approached from my field of view, with a flying one approaching from the sky, rapidly closing in. Listening to the alarms of the sentries, I guessed at least twenty boss monsters were moving in.
Enough to destroy the rest of the defenses if I was determined to kill them.
"Let them go," I called Harold, who was busy dueling with one of them, tangling with him to prevent his escape. Luckily, Harold followed my order. With the squad already retreating, I knew that I couldn't hunt them and kill boss monsters at the same time. The best strategy was to let them go, and hope that Thomas would once again pull back his forces.
Experience more on empire
But, it didn't mean I would let them go without a price. Even as Harold pulled back, I targeted his opponent with a chain of attacks, hoping to destroy his armor. Busy watching Harold, he reacted too slowly.
Only one of the attacks delivered a glancing blow, which had been enough to trigger his transformation before his allies grabbed and dragged him away, too fast for me to chase.
With that, I shifted my attention to the approaching boss monsters, once again prioritizing West to provide Rosie with cover.
Boss monsters were too fast for me to catch all of them, but one, I managed to cut its leg with ranged attacks, which meant it was immobile for the next second. That was all I needed to climb on top of it to deliver the coup de grace.
Altogether, a surprisingly smooth operation, especially when I felt the approach of a cloaked figure, half-invisible as she ran toward me, dodging the attacks of the lizards without killing them. I chose to believe it was Rosie even as I pulled both boss monsters back with me on another cart I manufactured.
That had been confirmed when I felt her climb the cart through observation, hidden next to the boss monster.
I couldn't help but smile at that. Her arrival had been great news, but the fact that she managed to do so while keeping it a secret from the enemy was even more valuable.
A hidden dagger was always more valuable than a revealed one.
"I'm going to butcher it again, be ready to carry it back to the workshop," I called once I heard the signal of the sentries, confirming that everything was alright. As for the wounded, I trusted Harold to handle it.
Just like before, I butchered the boss rapidly, sealing the scales, claws, and crystals in metal cases, but I kept the crystals with me while the rest were sent into the dungeon. And, if one of the metal boxes had a large gap, enough to comfortably accommodate an adult woman, with a latch to open the box from inside … Well, that certainly sounded like a coincidence.
The situation was as good as it could be, even if the squad that escaped went back to the sky, riding another group of lizards, ready to harass us once more. Between attacks, I went to talk with Harold, who was once again leading the defenses. "Everything alright?" I asked.
"Yes, sir," he said, but he looked shaken. "But, it was close."
"I know. But, we managed to do some damage," I said as I pointed at the enemy forces. The lizards continued to attack, but the boss monsters had pulled back considerably.
"That's good, but I'm afraid of reinforcements."
"Me too," I replied. "We might have to send some teams to collect claws and other broken parts," I admitted.
"That would cause losses," he said.
"Maybe," I replied. "For now, maintain pace," I continued, then got interrupted by the approach of another soldier, one that was not a farmer.
"Sir, there's an emergency," the familiar voice said.
Harold frowned. "Not the time —" he started, but I gestured for him to let it go.
"It must be important," I said, which, combined with the gesture, was enough for Harold to realize what was going on. "You need to handle the defenses for a few minutes. Give me a signal if things go badly."
"Yes, sir," he said, and I created a metal dome to surround me.
When I turned to look, the 'soldier' had already removed her helmet. "You have done well for yourself since I have last seen you," Rosie said with a smirk.