Chapter 886: Poison

Chapter 886: Poison

“Why is this happening?” the Ravener’s scream shook its inner world. “How... ...but you are—is this an illusion? How are you here and outside at the same time? I sense you elsewhere as well, what are you do—”

“What did...it just say?” Claygon froze in surprise.

As did his companions within the Ravener’s cavern.

Too much had happened too quickly.

Claygon’s father had appeared out of nowhere, stabbed the Ravener then teleported it to a Wall of Roiling Magic.

It had all happened so fast that even the Ravener-spawn had frozen, caught completely off guard.

“Everyone!” the General of Thameland’s voice echoed through the cavern. His cloak billowed behind him as he pointed at the Ravener. A disintegration beam lanced into the construct, destroying a chunk of its surface. “I’m back, everyone! Keep focused on the Ravener! Keep crushing its armies!”

“What’re ya sayin’, Alex?” Cedric cried. “What about Merzhin—”

“I’m taking care of that!” Alex flew down, launching a fireball into the Ravener as he did, slashing through dozens of Ravener-spawn near him. “I can’t explain things right now, but I’ve got this! Just stay focused! We’ve nearly got this thing dead! We’re nearly through with it! And listen...Hannah’s back and so is Carey! We’re nearly there!”

“Carey and Hannah...” Isolde sounded awed.

“Both of them?” Bjorgrund cried. “Yeeees!” His axe split a massive spawn down the middle.

“What are you on about?” the Ravener demanded. “Tell me how you are here and yet...is this an illusion? A trick? Which of you is real?”

“You ain’t got time for chatting right now,” Hart growled.

He and Asmaldestre pounced on the construct from two sides.

“Welcome back, Alex!” Prince Khalik shouted. “I do not understand what is going on, but I am glad to see you with us and happy to hear Carey has returned! Let us give it our all, my friends!”

The Tekish wizard cast earth magic over Ravener-spawn nearby, burying them in spikes and shards of stone. The other wizards attacked with their own spells, blasting apart, smashing, and electrocuting spawn.

Ravener-spawn kept springing from the construct’s surface, tasked with stopping the Heroes, but Alex cast mass disintegration on the monsters, keeping them in check.

“We’ve got your back, Alex!” Theresa shouted. “Just do what you have to!”

“Yes...father...we will fight off these...enemies!” Claygon called.

As he spoke, he felt his father touch his mind. ‘Claygon, I’m about to bring you into the Ravener. Not right away, but soon, so just be ready.’

The golem considered the words.

There was something...off about the way his father sounded, speaking in his mind. Their connection felt different; instead of a single stream of magic connecting them, it seemed frayed, splitting into different streams.

It was like his father’s voice was coming from more than one connection at the same time.

Claygon thought about what the Ravener had just said.

‘Father...are you...it feels like you are...in different places...’ the golem thought.

‘We don’t have time for a full explanation,’ Alex answered, casting a Wall of Roiling Magicin front of himself. Ravener-spawn charging at him collapsed in great heaps, stopped dead. ‘But when I got access to more of Hannah’s power, I figured out a way to be in multiple places at once.’

‘So...you are also inside the Ravener now?’ the golem thought.

‘I sure am,’ Alex said. ‘As a matter of fact, I’m about to install the first device into one of its nodes. It should start interfering with its mana.’

‘Father...you didn’t bring me in with you...’ the golem pointed out.

‘I wanted to install the device first,’ Alex thought. ‘Not going to lie, it was hectic in here for a bit. I wanted to disrupt some of this things’s abilities to defend itself before I brought you in. So just give me a second. It’s a jungle in here.’

The central core of the tower was a wondrous place: a crystal cave revealing a sea of stalactites, stalagmites and crystal cords in every colour of the rainbow, each glowing from the inner power rushing through it.

A low pitched hum emanated from the walls of the massive, vertical chamber, and bolts of power crackled between the tips of the glowing crystals.

Alex actually stopped for a second, taking it all in, his jaw hanging open.

Over his time at Shale’s, he’d seen hundreds of golem cores...but none could even begin to approach the complexity of this place. The power generated in here electrified his mana senses, and tingled across his skin.

He whistled.

It was actually more powerful than he and the others had estimated from Uldar’s schematics.

‘There’s always differences between a schematic and the final product,’ he thought. ‘But...wow, I hope our devices are enough to drain this thing dry. I suppose there’s only one way to find out, so while the Ravener’s still distracted, let’s find the right point.’

Alex floated up through the forest of crystalline spikes, avoiding the power sparking between them.

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He examined his surroundings closely, the Mark of the General feeding him images of himself examining the schematics. He analysed the crystalline structure, searching carefully, noting the flow of power through the node...

...and finally discovering what he was looking for.

His gaze stopped.

“There you are.”

His arm reached out, making a grasping gesture with his fingers.

Hannah’s power surged within him.

And—suddenly—the dungeon core was in his hand.

Alex smiled, remembering when long ago, Baelin had destroyed a dungeon with a single cataclysmic spell, then brought the core to his hand from the wreckage.

At the time, the chancellor had said that one benefit of overwhelming power was—

“Convenience.” Alex said, gripping the dungeon core.

He poured his mana into it, overwhelming the core’s defences with his full might. He focused on its inner mana pathways, feeling out its inner controls, taking command of them.

“I’d bet normally, the Ravener would be trying to stop me right about now,” the young wizard said. “But it has bigger problems than this right now...aaaaand here we go. There you are.”

Alex found what he was looking for inside the dungeon core, and took control of it, forcing the core to begin making Ravener-spawn.

Ravener-spawn under his command.

The core quaked in his hand.

And the exact monster he was looking for emerged.

Tiny, flea-sized Ravener-spawn—each one ablaze—flew from the dungeon core in a stream; filling the air with flame, scalding heat, and blinding light.

A new fire cloud had been born: one that would follow the General’s commands, attack any foe he directed it to, and give aid to anyone he commanded it to.

He addressed the Ravener-spawn, “You’re fast. What I want you to do is to fly across Thameland and burn every Ravener-spawn you come across, unless they’re also under my command. If you confront Ravener-spawn and don’t hear these words, ‘I am following the commands of Alexander, Son of Alric, you are to eliminate them immediately. If you encounter Ravener-spawn attacking mortals? Kill them. Do you understand?”

“We understand,” the creatures responded.

“Good, now go, kill all offending Ravener-spawn...and make sure you defend any mortal you encounter. Is that clear?”

“As you command.”

The fire clouds flew away, ready to rampage through hordes of their former allies.

Alex smiled, placed the dungeon core in a pair of Wizard’s hands, and with it, began teleporting across the countryside. He would seek out other dungeons, relieve them of their cores and make them spawn their most powerful monsters to use against the Ravener’s own spawn.

That would help Thameland; the number of hostile monsters would be reduced, and the number of dungeon cores that the Ravener could control would decrease.

While he was rounding up cores and spawn across Thameland, he’d be continuing to cast Army of Heroes on anyone he found.

The Ravener would starve.

With its source of fear being turned off, and its internal mana production being crippled...things would start to look bleak...for Uldar’s creation.

Alex teleported out of the poisoned node, watching as cracks ran along the entire tower complex, as pieces chipped away.

With a screech, the Ravener reacted.

The cords connecting to the tower fell away, splitting apart and collapsing to the ground as useless shards of crystal.

In moments, the tower was cut off from the rest.

‘It’s like amputating a gangrenous limb,’ Alex thought. ‘Well you’re going to have a lot of amputating to do.’

Alex turned, looking for the next tower.

Only to find the world warping around him.

The realm inside the Ravener was turning chaotic.

Towers were shifting away from him; the flat crystal plane below rising and boiling like waves in a storm-wracked sea. Darkness above him broke, flashes of light peppering it. Web-like, crystalline cores writhed like tentacles.

Then came the monsters.

Scores appeared from thin air, filling the space around the towers with armies of flesh-hungry Ravener-spawn.

All eyes were on Alex.

“Alright,” he said, raising a hand. Things are too off balance. You’re up buddy.”

And with that, he cast Summon Construct.