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Chapter 498 - Initial Strike
🕑 Added 2022-08-06 13:00:07 +0000 UTCHera's Status
The 300 explorers were approaching the centaur village. So far, there weren't any issues despite the darkness. Unlike where they were, this room had a unique time zone, and it was currently the middle of the night. The few monsters that appeared were quickly killed without making any noise, and everybody was moving as stealthily as possible. Spinner was happy about that but uneasy at the same time. The plan was working well, too well. Even if this wasn't because the centaurs were preparing a trap of sorts, it still felt like it was the calm before the storm. In a way, it really was. The moment the first spell goes off, everything will turn into mayhem.
"Everyone be ready. We are entering their territory right now," one of the spies who were familiar with the area announced in the open channel available to everyone's communicators.
"Blockers, go around. Everyone else, keep low and don't make any noise. Sculptor. On my signal, you send out the monsters. We need the distraction to ensure the centaurs won't notice the barrier being put up," Spinner quickly reinforced the orders. They had already gone over the plan a thousand times, but there was no room for mistakes.
The team responsible for creating a barrier around the village started moving. In less than 10 minutes, all of them had arrived at their positions, and the centaurs still seemed to be none the wiser. Not to say that it wasn't a tense situation. At a specific moment, one of the centaurs came out of the village to do something on the outskirts. Everyone held their breaths while the creature walked around to a nearby ditch and emptied a bucket filled with a milky yellow liquid. The stench coming out of that was rough, but the centaur returned to the village with the bucket.
According to their spies, the centaurs would go to sleep after all the lights were out. Hatty was the signal for the humans to start. Since the barrier they were going to create wouldn't be emanating light, and it would take almost two hours for it to be completed the chance of the centaurs noticing it was very small. And even if one of them realized something was amiss, they had the monsters that Sculptor brought. Using them as a distraction should give the blockers enough time to close the barrier. Then, it would become a thunderdome. No one would be able to get in or out of the barrier until the blockers dropped it. As a way to guarantee that the centaurs didn't escape, they had also placed a safeguard in the spell. The barrier could only be lifted if all the blockers agreed. Even killing one of them wouldn't be enough to dispel the effect. However, the blockers were unable to move around while the barrier was up. Meaning that they were completely defenseless, and that's why each of them had a group of three or four people as their bodyguards. Time went by, and the lights inside the village finally went out. Spinner gave the command, and the barrier slowly started to rise. If everything went well, nothing would happen during this stage, but there were a couple of centaurs who would always be on the lookout for monsters. Those were the ones that worried the commander.
"I have to say, this place is really cool," Insomniac told Sculptor. They were waiting for a long time already and some of the tension was leaving their bodies.
"You think so? I guess it could be, but I can't see shit now," Sculptor sighed.
"Use the night vision mode of the visor, then look at the trees. They don't have a single trunk but a few that start spinning into each other becoming something bigger than all of them. And look over there," he pointed to the right, "That tree looks like a giant mushroom. Even the colors of the leaves make it seem like one of those red mushrooms with white dots."
Sculptor changed the settings on his tablet, but Insomniac stopped him and showed what was the touch command to change the way the visor worked. He quickly activated the night vision and took a look around. The place was truly beautiful. Each of the trees was unique in some way. Some looked like they were different kinds of plants, while others just had really long branches that one would see in a painting. What was constant amongst all of them was the colors. They all shared the same tones and shades, making it look like they all belonged here, even with the weirdness of their shapes. After looking around, Sculptor turned to Insomniac, seeing the man smile for the first time. The skill he mentioned was doing wanders. It was almost like he was a completely different person.
"You know, you are nothing like I imagined," he said.
"What do you mean?" Insomniac turned to the former smuggler.
"Sculptor! One of the centaurs is looking at the barrier. Send the monsters now!" Spinner's voice came through their communicator.
"How many?" Sculptor snapped into action.
"All you got."
The man reached for a bag in his waist and grabbed four different golden figurines. A very long lizard with its jaw open and four rows of teeth, a biped creature that resembled a gorilla but had very smooth skin and three tentacle-like appendages coming from its back, a dog that looked severely malnourished and what looked like a weasel, but a set of bones came out of his body almost like spider legs. Sculptor confirmed that all the four figures were there and placed them all in a round plastic container before putting them in a slingshot.
"Sculptor! Now! They are moving towards the back of the village."
"I got it, I got it," Sculptor replied and shot his makeshift projectile. Because of the size of that one, it was a bit clunky to use the slingshot, but he had trained for this. Aiming for the head of the centaur that just turned around, he let go, and the ball of monsters flew through the air. It hit the target and broke the plastic, causing the figurines to fall to the ground. The half-man held the back of his head, not in pain but annoyed, and, as soon as he turned around, Sculptor released the monsters.
The lizard jumped out and roared, its body becoming even longer and snake-like, but several limbs were around him like a centipede. The smooth gorilla was actually a red slime creature that would take animal shapes as it fought. The starving dog was easily 5 meters tall and cursed with a never ending hunger, and the weasel was something out a nightmare. It screamed as if it was a child, and hordes of small weasels came out of its body as if they were baby spiders.
"Oh… that's why that one took so much gold," Sculptor mumbled while he got the spells ready to fire. They still had to wait for the barrier to close before firing, but then the mages had set up a specific order to optimize their damage.
As soon as the monsters appeared, the centaur started yelling. Warning everyone of an attack and trying to wake them up. The one that was a little bit behind him jumped to attack the Starving Hound, but he was intercepted by the Spider Weasel and its many, many babies. More than the yelling, the screams of panic as hundreds and hundreds of small weasel-like creatures climbed on top of the centaur were what managed to wake the rest of the village up.
Spinner looked up, hoping that the distraction would be enough. The monster figurines were already their plan B, and if there was something else going on, they would have to go for plan C, which wasn't the best option. The barrier was about halfway done, and it would still take about 2 minutes before it was completely closed. Since he was a very complicated spell, being able to shorten its cast by this much was already nothing shy of a miracle.
Little by little, the centaurs woke up and joined the fray. The one that was being attacked by the weasels got some help, and with a fire spell, they were able to kill the babies, which only enraged the mother. While that was going on, the FrostFang Lizard started moving around the tents, smelling the air and looking for something. It managed to find whatever it was and jumped into a specific tent. Soon the sound of crying and yelling children came from inside. However, the Beast Slime had other ideas. Being the more intelligent of the bunch, the slime knew that someone had brought it here, and it wasn't about to let its kidnapper go unpunished. The gorilla-like shape moved around, trying to see if the man who trapped it was somewhere nearby.
"Shit. I think that one is looking for me," Sculptor whispered in the communicator.
"Mages, slow it. Distract it. Do something so it won't reveal our position," Spinner quickly ordered as the mages started casting their spells.
"Should I kill it?" Archer asked, already notching an arrow on his bow. He, together with Sculptor and Insomniac, was one of the three legacy holders participating in this operation. Despite his lower level, being only in the high 60s, his skills allowed him to kill most creatures in a single shot. However, doing so would trigger the cooldown of his Heartpiercer, and the idea of sniping the centaur leader would have to be discarded.
"No. Actually, do you have a shot that would kill it and a couple of centaurs?" Spinner asked.
"Maybe. I might need to move a bit," Archer replied while watching the scene. Thankfully, the slime was translucent, allowing him to see those who were behind it.
"If the slime gets too close, try to get it and a couple centaurs then," Spinner replied. The centaur leader was still a mystery for them. Even the spies had no idea who their actual ruler, chieftain, or whatever. So taking two of them out could already help their odds.
The spells started to hit the slime, but a few of them were a bit too flashy and caught the attention of some of the centaurs.
"Inva…" before the centaur could finish yelling, an arrow that had just pierced through the slime core hit his eye socket and continued to the ear of another centaur who was passing behind the first one, going through its head and only stopping when it became embedded in the humanoid chest of a third centaur who fell to his knees coughing up blood before dying on the spot.
"Got three of them plus the slime. Thought the yell could be worse," Archer said before stepping behind Iron Heart, who was in charge of protecting the assassin.
"Good enough," Spinner looked up and saw the barrier closing and a small glow covering the area around them as a confirmation that the spell was active, "Mages. Light this place up!"
Just as the order came, the first spell went off. Each of them was a collaborative work among the mages to increase the power they can show. It started as a small earthquake that made all the centaurs lose their balance. The weasel and the hound were also having trouble, but the lizard continued its meal in the tent where most of the children were gathered. In the span of 20 seconds, the tremors became so strong that parts of the ground started to crack. With that, the following two spells were triggered. One of them was sent out by Sculptor using another small capsule with a figurine that looked like a jagged piece of rock. The second was the same spell, just aimed at a different spot. Double dipping allowed them to expand the area of effect and make the terrain even more troublesome for the centaurs to move around. The spells actually pulled shards of rock violently from the ground. A few were large enough to impale the monsters or centaurs, but most would be smaller, but enough to make traveling around that area barefoot, or bare hoof, in this case, a nightmare.
What came next was a large tornado engulfing the entire village, and Sculptor tossed the second of the three spells he had available. This created a blizzard that could potentially freeze the centaurs or, at least, damage them with the shards of ice that would be flying around. Next came a massive cloud of smoke, made to remove the oxygen from the area. A few moments passed while the spells took effect when a mage told Sculptor to throw the last of his spells. It was a simple firestorm that would mix with all the magic that was already in effect and allow a couple of mages to mix all the elements together to create an elemental storm. The tornado changed shape, becoming more contained but more violent at the same time. A fire roared inside as large plumes of smoke that tried to escape the wind were sucked back inside. Ice fell at staggering speeds creating small craters on the ground as if they were meteorites, and the rock in the earth continued to come out as if it was being pulled by a magnet.
About 30 seconds passed before the spells had to be deactivated. Unfortunately, the spell was too volatile to control for longer. But as soon as the smoke cleared out, it was obvious that this was a good idea. Most of the tents were destroyed, and there were a few bodies lying around on the ground with missing body parts, and the monsters were dead.
Spinner focused his attention and noticed a centaur covered in tattoos that was eating something while running towards the children's tent. She fell to her knees when she saw the destruction and the devoured bodies. It seemed like most kids were killed by the spell or the monster. After a few moments, she started looking around and broke some of the jagged pieces of rock, revealing a tiny centaur that went in for a hug. They started crying with smiles on their faces, but as soon as the tattooed centaur pulled back to look at the child, a drop of green rain fell on the small centaur's face. The green seeped into its face and spread through its veins in a flash, eating the kid up from the inside.
Before the tattooed centaur could do anything, the child rolled back his eyes and died, his body now motionless on the older centaur's arms. This was Malva, the current chieftain of the tribe, and the child was her firstborn son, who was barely 3 months old. Malva looked up and around, trying to understand what was going on. It didn't take long for her to see a human looking to the sky near the forest with both hands up, clearly casting a spell surrounded by some of the flames that had just come over the village.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!!" With a bestial scream, the centaur chieftain snapped a large piece of rock from the ground and tossed it toward the human. Her target was known as Toxic Rain, who was trying to just finish the job quickly and ideally kill all the children by himself. That way, only one person would have to pay the price for such an act. What he never expected was that the price would be paid so soon. Before he was even able to completely activate his signature spell, a cloud of toxic rain, he heard a loud noise. When his eyes lowered, all he could see was a massive piece of rock flying at him.
The rock hit his body but didn't stop. His legs were instantly ripped from his torso, and his body went flying together with the boulder. It finally stopped after the massive stone broke five trees, and Toxic Rain was nothing more than a paste painting the rock.
"Rain!" Spinner cried, looking at the bodiless feet of the hunter who was known for his heart of gold. He turned back to the village and saw several tribesmen getting up and emerging from beneath the rocks. The humans might have dealt the first strike, but it was clear that the centaurs wouldn't go down without a fight.
