Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Matt guzzled down water and quickly wiped his face. His party was working on clearing the second floor, and it was brutal.

What they had expected to take hours was taking nearly a full day. At least they had a trap detector this time. That, and the extra light in the hall were the only bright sides that Matt could find. When he was here last, the runes hadnt had enough power to start up. Now, they were illuminating the whole floor.

The light and foiled traps still didnt make up for the masses of golems that were clogging up the halls. Everywhere he looked during the assault, Matt was reminded of details that only he and his team were privy to. Most of these halls had been packed solid with material, and were now only mildly congested. To him, it was a clear explanation of how the golems never seemed to run out of troops to throw at them.

They cleared the first floor with relatively little trouble, and then set their sights on the second. It was worse.

So much worse.

He couldnt even imagine how it would be if this was a peak Tier 6 rift. Alex, the man who had been his shield mate, stood next to him. He was a mid Tier 6, who had delved peak Tier 6 rifts many times over. Even he said that hed never seen a rift as bad as this one.

Matt couldnt quite put his finger on it, but something was wrong with the place. He was sure that if they had even rudimentary level access to the EmpireNet, he could find an answer.

The uncertainty made for tense fights, as they needed to quickly destroy the monsters. But it was a slow process, due to the extensive size of the hauler golems hall.

Matt ducked a projectile as it bounced off the shield that Alex raised over his head from behind him. It was a futile but instinctive reaction.

The battle on the second level wasnt going well at all, thanks to the massive spider golems that populated the area. They were so big, they could trample or step over the shield wall in front of them. It left their backline exposed and vulnerable. To make matters worse, the giant spiders would lob bar stock at the human invaders, when they had sufficient range.

The shield wall advanced, and Matt was braced for the impact he knew would come, but hadnt yet. If he was hit, he didnt think that he would be walking away. No one else had.

Only one man in his team had died from the tossed ingots so far, but they had still taken out five people during the last few engagements. Matt wasnt exactly feeling confident about his chances, if he was the newest recipient.

The one casualty was killed outright, when the steel projectile skittered up his shield, and blew his head off. But the others had only suffered a few removed extremities. They were the lucky ones.

The shout of Forward! caused their faltering steps to pick back up. Matt watched the advance out of the crack between his shield and the one raised over his head.

They had closed nearly seventy percent of the distance when they received their second gift from the golem. It whizzed towards them with the speed that only a Tier 6 monster nearly twice their size could achieve.

There was a spray of stone from the wall where the ingot landed, but no one stopped their charge. When they reached the golems legs, things didnt get any easier. They had to try and keep the large monster occupied, while the people with ranged skills tried to bring it down. At least, that was the idea. But as the last two fights had shown, it never really worked that way.

Instead of fighting the puny humans at its feet, the golem walked over them, and tried to reach their backline. There it could stomp its pillar-like legs to its mechanical hearts content. Matt and the other three front liners next to him slammed their prepared hammers into the leg joints, in a practiced and prepared attack. It got the golems attention long enough for the mages to pull back farther, and rain attacks down on its center mass.

A [Fireball] exploded a little too close for Matts comfort, causing him to duck and miss his swing. That was the danger of being under the monster that the mages were attacking. They didnt all have the best aim.

Hopping sideways, Matt joined someone else in battering a joint inoperable. When the call for a retreat was made, he was as ecstatic as he could be, with how tired he was.

With everyone else who had been under the golems pulling back, Matt joined them and retreated. As he ran, he noticed a man trying to limp away with a crushed lower leg. He ducked under one of his arms in stride, taking most of the mans weight on his own shoulders. As he reached the newly forming shield wall, Matt was let through, and he quickly passed off the injured man to one of the back liners. He then quickly returned to his position in the front of the formation.

Despite the fact that the front was the most dangerous place in the formation, it had its advantages. He had the best seat in the fortress to watch the mages obliterate the golem that could no longer walk properly.

As fire and lightning streaked overhead, he grinned, and started to allocate the essence he had earned over the last few fights.

***

Liz launched a series of [Blood Bullet]s, and followed it up with [Blood Manipulation] when her attacks splattered on the humanoid golems sides.

Her team had quickly figured out that the quickest way to defeat the large, hulking spider golems was to get some blood inside one, and then tear at its internals. It was cheaper on mana, compared to beating them into scrap metal, and it was faster to boot. She felt dumb. She hadnt thought of it before. But most creatures had their spirits to protect them from internal tampering, so she never considered the possibility.

The golems werent alive, though. They had essence, but no spirit, so they were vulnerable to methods of attack that would never work on living things. Apparently, there was a crafter who had been drafted to fight that possessed [Metal Manipulation]. He was able to rip core components out of the golems without much effort, and was responsible for nearly half of the large spider golem kills on the second floor.

The third floor was another battle altogether. Traps had made another appearance, and they were taking their toll.

Liz pushed that thought away, and moved her blood along the floor while they advanced to the next group. Her blood almost immediately set off a spinning blade that dropped from the ceiling. It was exhausting work, but she was determined to keep as many people alive as she could.

She reached the next group of golems, and made her blood flow up their legs, and into the internals. Sensing that her blood had reached the golems cores, she started wrenching it back and forth. The approaching golema started to jerk and twist as she worked. Unable to see what she was doing, Liz focused on constant and violent movement, hoping to deal as much damage as possible.

Aster yipped next to her ear, and the air went frosty for a moment. A huge [Ice Spear] launched out, killing a large spider that tried to ambush them by dropping down from the ceiling. Apparently, the first team who had been hit with that one only had four survivors out of nearly thirty.

Liz kissed the side of the foxs head through her helmet, and was rewarded with a questioning series of yipps about how Matt and Camilla were.

Aster thought they were fine, but wanted them to be safe. With a quick check of her HUD, Liz found them safe, and relayed the news to the fox.

The problem was, they were low on mana when they had made it through just half of the second refinery floor. Now, on the third floor, they were running near empty.

Without Matt near at hand, they were once again reminded of the greatest flaw in a mage combat style. Mana meant skills, and no mana meant no skills. No skills meant that they were practically useless.

Aster was nearly tapped out from their earlier fights, before Liz had even started killing the largest golems from the inside. Now they traded off the attacking role, and only Liz struck out at the giant spiders and larger groups of melee golems. Meanwhile, the other mages handled the smaller groups of humanoid golems. It wasnt perfect, but it was the best they could do.

Reaching up to scratch Aster, Liz moved forward with the others. She mentally tried to calm her building headache, caused by the strain of using [Blood Manipulation].

She almost wished that she was still on the second floor. Killing a single large golem was preferable to killing multiple smaller ones, even if the same tactics worked on them as well. The groups required finer control of [Blood Manipulation], and her head felt like a spike was being driven through it. She just wanted to find a corner and die in it.

Aster nuzzled the side of Lizs head in sympathy, causing her to smile. Aster, for all her ice, had a warm heart.

***

Prince Albert walked down the halls, and looked around at the destruction that had been brought to this floor as well. Each step increased his mood.

Frederick, the asshole of a Tier 15 working for his older brother, had wanted to use this fortress to kill him. Oliver, the other Tier 15 teleport guardian, had been bribed to look the other way as well. They made their plans clear, and had chosen their side.

He would remember.

The anger that flared up disappeared as he re-examined the fortress. When he conquered this place and took over, he was going to bring in craftsmen loyal to him, and have them refit this flying fortress to be his newest mobile base.

To the victor goes the spoils.

Albert couldnt suppress the smile that crept over his face. He was thankful for being surrounded by only loyal guards.

This flying fortress was slow, and only Tier 6, but it would have quite the impact on public perception as he flew it through the Kingdom. He could already imagine the awe it would instill in the common man. The little display Duke Ignite put on while killing his distant uncle would only add to the mystique.

Everyone would see his flying fortress, and immediately think of the Duke, giving him a slight bit of borrowed prestige.

The smile returned larger than before. Even his father didnt have a flying fortress. Sure, once they were integrated into the Empire proper, he would be given one by the Emperor. But that was in the future, not now. Oh, how his father would complain! He had heard it often enough. His father hated the fact that flying islands were so expensive. Even a Tier 35 couldnt afford one. But he would have one of his own.

Suppressing the urge to jump in the air and celebrate, Albert tried to remain calm on the outside. But from the smirks of his guards, knew he was failing.

A pattering of steps caused him and all of the guards to stow the lighthearted mood. They prepared for either a betrayal by their human allies, or an attack from the golems.

Juni came sprinting around the corner, and the smile returned to Alberts face. His guards made an opening for his friend to make his way through.

To his horror, the golem readied its spear as it leapt through the air towards their entrance. It landed with a bone-rattling quake, and thrusted its weapon into the entrance. It came back dyed crimson.

Matt lunged back at the twelve-foot golem, and brought his hammer around into its side. He was blocked by its shield as it pivoted to face him. The rest of the golem followed its shield, and in a lightning-quick pattern, it thrust out again with its spear. It was a skill enhanced attack, as the glowing edge of the weapon suggested.

Dodging, and trying to keep his shield raised, Matt retreated in the direction of the center of the room. His new shield was being whittled down to kindling with each spear thrust.

Getting desperate, he caught the spear just as it was being withdrawn, and he smashed his hammer on the shaft, trying to snap his opponents weapon. But his hammer bounced off, with barely a dent made.

Matt tried to avoid the shield bash, but the golem had baited him out, and the blow was simply too fast for him to react. He was knocked flying, skipping across the floor until he bounced into a wall.

Standing, with loud pops coming from his back as he moved, Matt prepared to re-engage. At least he had bought time for the others to flow out of the corridor.

***

Camilla and her group had made it into the hall, when they were immediately caught by an expanding cage that seemed to meld with the floor.

Everyone panicked, and she was no exception. The cage was connected to the boss golem with a chain, and it pulled itself to them, but was intercepted by a massive stone spike as it sprung towards them.

A quick check showed there was another boss golem connected to another caged group, with a greatsword instead of a shield. That golem wasnt intercepted, and she watched as it thrust into the cage, killing the trapped humans.

Camillas panic skyrocketed. She just wanted out.

Her answer was provided when she saw that there was the only person left alive in the other group. The cage released on its own, freeing the single survivor.

The idea to kill the others in her cage popped up. All she had to do was summon her bladed whip, and start swinging. It would be so easy to ensure her own escape, if she just sacrificed everyone else.

Her subconscious whispered that they were all bad people, and the justification that they deserved to die kept echoing through her head. She had already watched them kill each other. Why couldnt she do the same and ensure her own survival?

The time to decide was taken from her when the golem approached.

Camilla didnt know what to do, and her body started moving on its own.

Aidens smiling and happy face was the last thing she saw, as she activated her last resort device, and set herself on fire.

She wanted him to be proud of her, if nothing else. That would make it all worth it.

The pleasure hit like nothing ever had before, and she extended her mace through the bars, and swung with everything she had.

She let her emotions flow through her. All of the rage, the panic, the hatred, the anger, and above all, the disgust. Disgust with her Talent and the way it messed with her feelings, making it impossible to live a normal life.

She put all of her pain and frustration into a single heavy blow, and the golem crumpled like wet paper in the face of her fury.

She could already feel the nerve damage building up, as it was growing hard to control her now deadened body. So, with one last burst of strength, she grabbed two of the Tier 6 bars and pulled. It was more like pulling apart clay, as they bent with little effort.

Camilla collapsed, and as her vision went black, she saw people climbing out over her.

It was nothing less than she expected of the selfish people in the world, but at least she could die knowing she had done the right thing. She had little hope that someone would help get her to safety while she was indisposed.

Who knows, maybe Ill get through this.

***

Liz screamed as she punched out with her spear. Blood was everywhere, and she was only getting more as the bodies piled up around her.

Aster sent out dozens of shards of ice around her, and froze the blood under the golems feet. Their slight stumble gave Liz enough time to send a wave of blood into the creatures innards. Before she could wreak havoc inside the boss golems much tougher innards, they launched a volley of crossbow bolts at her.

The worst part of this place wasnt that there was more than one boss. No, it was that the bosses had different variants that came to be with the inversions. There were seemingly three types of golem bosses. Thankfully, of the seven, there were four melee golems with shield and spear. The other three were two cage golems, and a single ranged crossbow user.

That final one was the problem. It didnt have a standard crossbow. The bosses weapon shot out a single real bolt, along with a dozen energy copies of the initial projectile. It made for an irritating foe.

Having dodged the projectiles, she knew people behind her were not quite as lucky. She felt the added blood begin to pool with her connection to the liquid. As much as it helped her fight, she wished it would stay inside her allies.

But what was spilled couldnt be put back in, so she gathered it up, and formed it around her.

Aster saw that Liz was going into her blood golem form, and let out a long whine while she attacked.

Liz interpreted it as, If you get me covered in blood youre gonna scrub my fur clean!

It was enough to get Liz to smile, but it quickly vanished as she tore at the ranged golem boss.

It raised its weapon for another volley, and Liz flexed her Concept. It made the world go bright, and her connection to the blood around her intensified, and became more real. Her Concept gave the blood Tier 7 strength. When added to her improved control, it was enough to stop the bolts in their tracks.

That was the final mistake the golem was able to make. She was on it quickly, smashing down with the bludgeon of frozen blood Aster had created out of Lizs golem arm.

Having battered the boss to smithereens, Liz surveyed the battlefield, and chose her next target.

The Prince was doing fine while fighting a melee golem on his own. He seemed to be holding his own against the titan of a golem quite well.

One of the other teams was being set upon by two of the melee golems, and clearly needed her help.

***

Matt ducked a spear thrust, got in close to the golem, and started punching it in the side. His bracers heated up as the bone-breaking runes started to smash things inside of the metal monster.

The golem didnt die without a fight, and elbowed him repeatedly in the back and head. Each blow strained [Cracked Phantom Armor]. A few were even able to break the skill long enough to crack a rib. Matt didnt let that stop him, and screamed through the pain and rage.

He only stopped striking when the golem did as well.

For all their individual power, these golems were still only seven, against nearly fifty active fighters. Besides, even at Tier five, Matt found that he could hold his own well enough in single fights against the bosses.

Looking up, he found a giant golem of blood and ice fighting two of the melee golems.

Desperate to help, he started limping over. As he forced his body into a loping run, then eventually into a sprint, he slammed his hammer into the back of the nearest golem boss. It stumbled, which let the other fighters trying to help jump on it quickly. They finished it off in short order.

Liz was able to quickly off the last golem, which just left the Prince and his golem. But from the others standing near the Prince, Matt assumed that he wanted to take it down on his own.

Enjoying that, he limped over to where his AI said Camilla was in critical condition. He found her in a cage that was half ripped apart. Wiggling in, he pulled her into his arms then fed her through the small gap, before carrying her to the healers station at the base of the stairs.

Though the healers didnt know what was wrong with her, Matt still stayed long enough to hear their pronouncement, breathing a sigh of relief when they said she would live.

Hearing that she was stable was enough for him, and he ran back up the stairs to find the Prince finishing off his golem.