Chương 115: The Road Warriors
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I was a Char. Of course that meant I was almost always wearing a helmet.
I was planning on just leaning back and letting the spear glance off the helmet, and then I remembered that this was a place with magic and innate powers, so who knows if they have some strange super piercing personal Null magic?
But I was also a leaf in the wind. I was already recoiling away from the strike, then my [Air Sense] detected that at the same time a poisoned arrow was about to hit me in the back.
Time seemed to slow down in a [Quick Time Event]. I ended up forcing my body all the way back that I ended up almost perpendicular to the saddle as if lying down on the air ready to just fall off. I watched the arrow pass by overhead, the head turning and its wooden shaft flexing in the air.
And Monika said /"Player! Battle is not the time to be playing around. People could die here from your pushing them into unnecessary conflict!"/
I smiled back. "Well then, I guess someone has to work even harder to save lives, right?"
Monika pointed at me and puckered her lips. /"You are poking my emotional triggers and I don't enjoy ittt…!!!"/
Then she stepped back and her figure blurred. She jumped off to the side. And to the other side. And to the other side. And again. Until six virtual clones of her sought to obtain absolute mastery of the battlespace. Her green eyes blazed with unnatural focus and intelligence.
And then time flowed naturally again.
Sacha flicked his spear and slapped away the incoming arrow. Bending over meant pulling my arms closer and straight against my body for balance. I pointed at him and whispered "[Shock Lightning]".
Fzhrak!
"Gabblagabblablaaagh…!"
Lightning shot out of my fingertips and slammed into his chest, blasting off his horse. The sudden crack and flash and heat frightened my horse and I was thrown off to land on my back to the rough pebbly ground.
"Ow."
"Brother!"
"Sir Zah!"
I tilted my head up to see an adventurer in a green cloak. From my peripheral vision I could see the oncoming wagon ready to run me over. Also from the other side, the lead carriage also hurtling to run me over. Yumina turned to command the driver, but stopped suddenly as Monika whispered into her ears to keep going and don't break the formation.
/"Inbound carriage, impact in four seconds. "/
I slapped my palm down on the ground. "Rise, Earth. Create a supporting column, [Stone Pillar!]."
Frumph!
A broad circle of the ground suddenly shot up, flinging the whole incoming empty carriage into the air. The [Stone Pillar] shot up at an angle, and sent the carriage spinning backwards.
/"Improvised projecticle lands by the side of the road, no longer blocking the escape route while flying fragments disorient front area attackers for at least two seconds."/
Sacha's brother rolled out of the was just as the carriage slammed to the ground upside-down with a thundering crash.
/"Player rolls three turns to the right, lead carriage horses to pass by safely in six seconds."/
Meanwhile, other things were happening at the same time.
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The group of adventurers at the rear, seeing the cavalry charging down on them, decided to rush to attack the rear carriage and get away from open ground. An adventurer sprang onto the back of the carriage.
Elze was on top of the carriage. It was a great vantage point, but it also massively exposed. The only reason she wasn't a bloody pincushion full of arrows was that immediately as soon as Monika confirmed hostility, Yumina cast [Darkness Wall] to obscure the view from both sides.
Elze, rather than jump down and maul them all single-handedly, threw down stones marked with flashbang magic enscriptions.
"Gyaaaah!"
/"Enemies disoriented momentarily. Commencing cavalry strike."/
Boom.
Boom.
[Boom Tubes] appeared in front of the charging Ortlinde light cavalry, and then they shot out at almost point-blank to the still confused group of Steel Fangs. Their lances were blunted, but at full charge they tossed people all around every which way and trampled the rest.
/"[Continuous Diagnostic Sweep.] Laceration. Broken ribs. Broken ribs. Broken leg. Concussion. Concussion. Shattered shoulder blade. Concussion. Cut and wound from dropped sword. Facial bones cracked. Broken arm."/
Monika monitored everybody's health condition. She performed [Triage] from most injured to the least.
/"[Homo Stasis.] [Homo Stasis.] [Homo Stasis.] [Homo Stasis.]"/ She stunned and time-locked everyone that was closest to death.
[Homo Stasis] was a [Light] spell, and Monika was incapable of casting common elemental spells.
Monika's power was all the [Null] spells. But now that she could [Store] spells in physical spell stone matrixes, she could apply [Multi-Track] and [Extended Operation] into each of them.
/"I am going to save people from dying. No one dies because of me!"/
Screams of pain and terror rang out underneath a dark cloud.
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/"Prisoners will attempt to break out. Enemies acting as guards in the center of the formation will attack. Separate and restrict movement via physical barrier."/
Linze flicked her wand up. "[Ice Wall!]
Two great slabs of ice slammed down on either side of the group of prisoners held in between the two carriages. The [Ice Walls] creaked and fell inwards, crashing together forming an upside-down 'V' or like a tent. The prisoners fell down in panic, thinking they were going to get crushed.
Linze shouted "[Ice Wall!]" again and sealed the openings on either end.
She began to breathe heavily, but she was still a long ways away from magical exhaustion.
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The Steel Fangs that were guarding the prisoners were thrown back from the crash of the [Ice Walls]. The Mismede and Belfast cavalry guards ran through them, trampling and bashing and leaving room for the Diamond Dogs to continue their charge.
/"Archer volley expected to commence, now that prisoners are less at risk of being accidentally hit. Disrupt cohesion by short-range ambush."/
Before the Poison Fangs shot out another volley, with murderous howls they were taken down by Silver Wolves striking from behind them under the forest cover.
They were adventurers and while they could deal with being attacked by beasts. "What – petrified?!" one of the Poison Fangs hissed as the Silver Wolf he had just stabbed had gone rigid and fell on top of him. He couldn't even pull out the knife anymore.
[Fera Stasis] worked the same way as [Homo Stasis], with the same important limit. Unlike [Sleep], it can only work on beings that have some form of injury. On the other, they were truly time-stopped and were immune to any further damage.
And then Yae and Elze were upon them.
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/"Pacify prisoners by placing them under [Stasis]. This requires some amount of injury."/
One of the [Ice Walls] retreated. The bandits and Poison Fang adventurers inside squinted to see Linze standing there, staring down at all of them with a completely emotionless face.
"Get her! Get a hos-"
Linze threw a [Flame Wall] into the gap.
And then there was only time for screaming.
/"[Homo Stasis.] [Homo Stasis.] [Homo Stasis.] [Homo Stasis.] …!"/
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Sacha moaned and shivered with still painfully flaring nerves as he slowly got back up to his feet.
He looked up to see his brother and two other Poison Fangs fighting that strange red-suited masked young man. As should be expected, their weapons were poisoned.
He saw his brother, Hacas, shoot an arrow at the Purple-rank adventurer's back. The young man plucked the arrow out of the air with his bare (gloved) hands and stabbed it into the chest of a Poison Snake attempting to disembowel him. The taller, more muscular adventurer dropped instantly with a heavy *thunk*.
"You bastard! DIE!" yelled the other Poison Fang as he dashed forward with his sword out to stab.
/"Desperation fuels bravado to push aside fear. Becomes too fully committed to a strike. Evade and counter."/
The young man stepped lightly to the side and kicked out. The burly adventurer huffed and bent inwards as the kick straight to his abdomen flung him up and away backwards. He slammed into the ground foaming in the mouth and knocked the fugg out.
"Some… some sort of fighting boost personal magic?" Hacas hid his face behind a green bandanna, but his eyes showed only a keen, eagle-eyed discernment. "I have one of those too." He tossed aside his bow and took out a pair of green daggers.
"Did you all really think I was just lying?" that eerie young man sighed softly. "Lay down your arms. Or die."
Terror and regret rang in the pounding of his heartbeat. Sacha was coming to understand that he had underestimated this trap. Badly. But now he only had one concern – saving his younger brother from his own mistake.
"We are the Steel Fangs and Poison Snakes of the Unconquered Cliffs!" Hacas shouted back.
"I see only fear. And dead men."
"No. Nooooo!" Sacha yelled. He scrambled forward and raised his weapon to attack from behind.
The young man opened his palms out to either side.
Thoom.
Lightning lanced out from his white gloves.
"Grabbble gabble gaaah!" both brothers sputtered out as they spazzed out.
And then they knew nothing more.
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And then it was done.
The Mismede guards and Olga Strand watched with wide eyes as we stacked the bandits and adventurers beside the road.
"Are… are they dead?" Arma whimpered.
"No, they're just knocked out," Yae said with a small smile as she tapped the young fox girl's shoulder. "Don't be scared, Arma-chan."
As long as nobody died, it was fine. We could heal almost anything.
Monika laughed silently. /"Aha. Ahahahaha. Ow. Oww. Overclocking that much even with cooling magic feels like a combination of an ice cream headache and too little sleep. But nobody died. Nobody dies! Not because of me...!"/
Not because of you. I will accept those sins, blame everything on me from now on. Be free, my dearest, be free. Surrender your evils, be free, be free.
"Milord, we had enough problems with prisoners from before… now we have almost fifty prisoners. What do you mean to do with them now?" asked Lyon Blitz.
"I'm going to remove them as a problem, of course."
Lyon looked at the men piled high. While he knew there were just magically held insensate, their rigidity really made them look like corpses ready to be thrown into a mass grave. "Do you mean… kill?" he whispered.
He took a deep breath and calmed down. He supposed they would end up being executed anyway. That would be very dishonorable, and he would have no part of it, but other people... are far more concerned with expediency. A kingdom needs both honorable warriors and those who sought to solve problems by any means necessary.
However, it would not be good to do it where the ladies might know about it.
I smiled thinly. "Worse. Much worse."
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Boom.
Crash.
"Tristwin, I said to secure everything breakable…" Duke Alfred sighed.
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Splash.
Sacha coughed and gasped for breath as the ice-cold water shocked him back to wakefulness.
He blinked and tried to move and discovered he was securely tied down to a chair with metal chains. He looked up and saw that smug masked face that would not feature in his nightmares. His men… his brother!
"YOU!"
"Me."
Fear hammered inside the veteran adventurer's heart. He remembered everything that I said about things being way over his head. The penalty for treason was death.
They gambled big, and they lost completely. He sagged in defeat.
He was inside a dark room. There was no telling how long he'd been unconscious. Hours? Days? At least he could see it was no torture room in a dungeon. There was only him, me, and Maldon. Inside a room with thick stone walls that muffled sound.
"I'm not going to be difficult. I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just please… my men, they didn't know. They were just following orders. I'll tell you whatever you want, but please – what happened to my brother?!"
I smiled thinly down at him. "Oh no. We don't need that. We don't need to interrogate you. Or any of you."
Sacha grimaced, preparing himself for pain. "What more do you want? You won! You want to make us an example…? We're just hirelings, who's going to care?"
I loomed over him and grinned. "Have you ever heard of the expression… 'wearing a wire?'"
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"The penalty for treason is death," said the King. "So tell me why I should offer any of them clemency?"
"We need to preserve our military strength, and adventurers make for some good light infantry and skirmishers. Execute all the bandits if that is your wish, but I'm interested in the practiced combined-arms tactics of the Steel Fangs and Poison Snakes."
"You can't trust adventurers who worked against this country already just for money. If they have nothing to believe in, they won't stand in the battle line."
"Send them to Zorah so she can break their spirit. They can work off their crimes in the defense of the border," I replied. "Make them her problem now."
I began to chuckle darkly. "And then – once they are thoroughly sick of her patriotic elitist nonsense, I will take them back and get them to fighting for me with a real purpose and good pay again!"
I threw my head back, put my hands to my hips, and laughed. "They will be so grateful or they will go back to die! Gwahahahahaha!"
The Duke stared blandly at me. "One day you will realize what you are saying to Lady Zorah of House Zenovivi and on that day I will laugh."
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Boom.
/"Player… I just realized something. Is the template for your mercenary company… COBRA?"/ (1)
I turned away. "… I can neither confirm nor deny."
/"Absorbing competing armies is a time-honored trend. Mercenary companies and warbands have done this since antiquity. But I don't see how following Cobra Commander's example and making your battle cry "RETREEEAT!" is going to be of any help."/
"That's not the part that interests me!"
/"Is it the part that for all his flailing incompetence, Cobra Commander is oddly charismatic and inspires strange loyalty in his terrorist forces who are technically supposed to be fighting only for money?"/
"Mmm. I can't be Big Boss or Solid Snake – I like to be seen out in the open and show off too much."
/"I've been trying to understand your memes, so I am familiar with these 80s cartoons you watch not just for irony, but for the vicarious experience of childlike innocence you never had. The Internet spoiled you with cynicism and perversions too early."/
Monika raised a finger and her expression brightened. /"But you know what else Cobra is known for?"/
I beamed back and waited for her answer.
/"Superweapons."/
I raised my fist to the heavens in an unspoken oath. Overcome a disparity in troops and industrial capacity with stealth, mobility, and special deterrence! "A weapon to surpass Metal Gearrr!!!"
/"Well on further thought, half superweapons and half inane attempts to make money. So I suppose that fits you *perfectly*."/
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AN:
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_tEE41xJRw
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Bluepencil
Bluepencil If you enjoy screwing over people using their own laws and codes of conduct - which is a favorite tactic of Lawful Evil - do you still qualify as Chaotic Good?
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