Chapter 151: The Three Forces

Chapter 151: The Three Forces

The Town Protection Array was actually blocked by the system. Zac quickly brought out one of his Thunder Punishment Arrays, and to his dismay found them looking like lifeless marbles no matter what he tried.

The Ruthless Heavens indeed, Ogras muttered with a sardonic grin. I guess well have to do this one by hand.

Zac started to wonder whether the System could actually hold grudges. He had cursed at it quite a bit in the beginning when he was stuck alone on the island. Was it retaliating now by increasing the difficulty to unreasonable levels? Or did it try to suppress him since he wasnt a cultivator?

In any case, the sight in front of him spelled trouble. He wasnt contending with one force now, but three. More importantly, he was placed against intelligent forces this time. The wolf horde had been somewhat easy to handle since they were dumb beasts, but the same couldnt be said about actual invading forces.

They would have organized armies and employ strategy in trying to defeat him. He was sure that the system had provided some pretty good incentives to them so that no diplomatic solution was possible. Not that he thought it was possible in any case.

I think we should charge in, catch them unaware, Zac said with some hesitation.

He didnt want them attacking the wall since it would offer scant protection now that there was no Array to secure it. It might work against dumb beasts, but against an army of high leveled warriors it was only a small diversion.

Theres no way they would be unaware, rather the opposite. They should have been given plenty of forewarning, perhaps even having the opportunity to accept or decline the quest, Ogras disagreed.

We should scout them out and gauge their strength. There are some differences between the pillars and normal Incursions. They are smaller. I think their forces should be limited, the demon added. If they were completely confident in defeating us they would already have rushed in. The fact that they are playing it safe is telling us something.

Zac gave a start and once again looked at the three pillars. They felt huge where they shone in the distance. However, Zac had to agree that they were quite a bit smaller compared to the one with the demons. That red pillar had stretched endlessly into the sky, clearly visible even from the other side of the island. It had felt like it reached the heavens, and apparently, even the closest islands had seen the red light when the demon Incursion was active.

These pillars were large, but not to that point. They were many times higher than the Ayr Hive, but thats was about it. Zac wasnt sure what it meant, but the size of the pillars had indicated the difficulty of the wolf waves. The pillar that sent through the Fiend Wolf was quite a bit larger compared to the ones before it.

So we just stand here and wait? Its too passive, Zac frowned with impatience. He was in no mood to let the invaders run rampant on his island. Who knew what kind of mess they would create while they stayed on the wall like some turtles.

It is, but sometimes we need to waste time to save time. We can send out a few scouts to check things out. Ill even go myself. But we shouldnt antagonize them until we know their relationship. Who knows, they might even fight each other. The undead forces are notoriously unwilling to work with almost any other force, and they might just attack the others before turning their attention to us.

Zac nodded after some thought. Though it sounded implausible it might be correct. The goal of those forces should be to kill him and he could only die one time, meaning that only one force would get the reward. Perhaps they would even succumb to infighting for the honor to kill him, provided that hey felt he would be easy to handle.

Besides, charging in like a barghest wasnt the best idea. Who knew what cards these people had up their sleeves. He didnt even know what forces two of the incursions belonged to. Gathering intelligence first might be the smartest play.

They had stood at the walls for a few minutes by now, and there still wasnt any activity. Unfortunately the incursions were far enough that they couldnt see their forces due to foliage blocking the view.

Very well, lets gather some intelligence, Zac said, feeling unsettled by the inaction.

He almost hoped that a wave of invaders would come running through the forest at them, screaming and waving their weapons. A full-frontal assault would be perilous, but it would also be easy to handle. He just needed to take out his axe and go crazy. Now he was unsure what to do or expect.

Ogras nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Not long after Zac saw a few figures blend into the forest as they moved toward the pillars of light. Most of the demons sat down by now with closed eyes, patiently waiting to explode into action. Zac had to stop himself from pacing back and force like a wreck since he didnt want to show how unsettled he felt by the situation.

So what do we do? Zac asked.

They are holding some meeting at the rock peoples place. For now we hope they have a falling out and do our job for us.

Zac nodded but didnt feel too hopeful. He could only spread the available intelligence amongst the ranks, and keep everyone on alert. Soon the last hope of an internal fight breaking out was dashed, as an army approached the wall.

Zac understood what Ogras meant when he said rock-people, as he couldnt really tell their appearance either. They were around two meters tall, and Zac couldnt make out any features as they were unnaturally black. Zac wondered for a second if they all possessed some racial skill that obscured them, but threw the question to the back of his head as he brought out his axe.

The ground shook as the army approached, and huge boulders were magically ripped out of the ground by the rock-people and started hovering above their army, creating quite the image. The rudimentary traps across the battlefield were all but useless against the sentient species as they approached.

The very air thrummed with power around the incoming group, and even Ogras ever-present grin was long gone as he looked out over their enemies.

----------------

Bishop Orsiccas leisurely walked back toward his camp, glancing at the army of Yrd Stonemen leaving for battle.

It had been an annoying discovery to find that they werent the only ones to get the blessing of The Boundless Heavens, but that they instead shared it with two other groups. That kind of situation clearly muddied what should have been a great opportunity to make some money.

It was quite convenient that at least one of them belonged to some weak backwater group. They would make great sacrifices for the Grand Plan, keeping the Zealots happy, and in the process scout out the powers of this Monarch-candidate.

This was the third world Orsiccas got tasked with purifying and processing with his fellow bishops, which is why he was chosen to head this special assignment while his brothers kept the activities going in their main base. But this was the first time that hed heard of a Sacrifice to gain such a blessing this early. Monarch-selects usually only emerged after over a year had passed.

It was also quite the headache to find that the undead scum were here. Whenever the Church met those bastards there was always a bloody battle for the high potential corpses. Losses went up and profits went down.

At least he wasnt up against a proper Lich, but instead a Corpse Lord. While neither were easy to deal with, Liches were nigh immortal save from certain types of attacks. They had proper purifier-forces who trained especially to combat the undead on the various fronts, but Orsiccas hadnt brought any here as he expected to be up against the humans or one of the other three species of this new planet.

Worse yet, the Corpse Lord seemed to be a noble. He even doubted whether he himself was its match. Still, he had a full battle-monk contingent with him, which was enough to decimate the undead forces if it came to that.

Orsiccas caressed his mace with a resolute expression. He wouldnt let this one go even if he had to go up against an undead noble, as the bonus he would receive was substantial. Not only the reward from The Boundless Heavens, but also the one he would receive from the church for procuring such high-grade materials.

Someone who was already a monarch-candidate would have to be a prime specimen in creating a premium vessel. Human bodies were always in high demand as well, as many powerhouses chose vessels of the same species as their original bodies.

Orsiccas never understood that kind of mentality. Those old goats had lived for tens of thousands of years, yet they hadnt had enough. Instead, they chose to scrap their mortal coil for one of the Churchs vessels, even if it meant retraining their bodies from the ground up.

Not that Orsiccas complained, as that very business had enabled him to reach heights he could only have dreamed of, with a clear path all the way to becoming a C-Ranked Cardinal. And in the meantime, he would make a pretty penny in the body retrieval business.

Because to live was to fight, so business was always booming.