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Chapter 497 - The plan
🕑 Added 2022-08-05 13:00:10 +0000 UTC"Look, I'm not big on speeches. So allow me to keep things simple. We came here to deal with a threat. According to the guild, a threat that may be the biggest danger the MAZE has ever tossed at us since the devil hunt. Some of you might say that this is a stretch, but I'm not the one saying this. This is something the guild has decided. Because of that, it also opens the possibility of a new hero. Up to this point, I was just saying what the guild told me to say. I'm in charge of this operation, so I'll stop the ramblings and go straight to business," Spinner was talking on top of a small podium to the entire group of 100 explorers covering this doorway. Around him, some tiny triangular gadgets functioned as cameras for a hologram. These cameras sent the image to the other two doorways, where everyone was watching the same speech.
"First of all, I don't want anyone trying to be a hero. Don't kid yourselves. What we are doing here won't be as heroic as the guild is making out to be. Right now, we are soldiers. We are an army that came to destroy our enemies. Yes, the centaurs are a threat, and we are tasked with their complete annihilation. This includes the elderly, the innocent, and the children. I know that all of us have mixed feelings about this, but let me explain our decision one more time. If we allow any of the centaurs to survive, they will come back for revenge. They have killed every single messenger we sent. Every attempt we made at a peaceful resolution ended up in more deaths. Not to mention, every one of them that managed to flee may one day reach a low-level room and kill everyone they saw. If they move in a group, or with some knowledge of what we can do, it won't end like it did in Dzviery. They will continue to push forward, killing more people, destroying more of our cities, and pushing us back more and more. If any of you think this is not enough consequence for us to act like this. You are not seeing the full picture. A MAZE where we are forced to retreat from our current rooms will create a place where rampages can grow unchecked. Wendigos can feast and become stronger without anyone to stop them. Not only will this make it nearly impossible for us to reclaim the rooms we lost, but the looming threat of one of those monsters managing to cross a doorway will always be floating around our heads."
"You all knew about this before you accepted this summon. I won't say that you'll be punished for hesitating to kill someone you may not want to kill. But I will warn you that doing so might cause more than just problems for this whole operation. It might end with your death," Spinner gave some time for his words to sink in before continuing, "I will say this again. We have two goals for this war. The first is to kill every damn centaur in that place. Every single one of them, without exceptions. The second is for us to survive. Personally, I am more concerned about your safety than anything else, and that's why we have developed this plan. The blockers, you know who you are, will go around the village to stop them from running away. The snipers will take a position in the surrounding area, the mages are going to blast them to the dark ages, and then the vanguard will push in. You should all know your jobs by the description I just gave you but if you have any doubts ask the captains in charge of your group. For the healers, you will be spread around all teams to be safe. Aside from that, we have a total of 30 people, 10 per doorway, who will stay behind to cover the exits. Both to stop any centaurs from going out and to intercept any who might come from a different room. Any questions?" Spinner waited a moment. Since he was talking in three different rooms, he had to give time for the people responsible for communication to send him the texts. When it was clear that no one had any questions, he just nodded.
"Very well then. We leave in 30. If you have any preparation, do it now. If you have any buffs that would last during the fight. Try to cast them early enough to have all your mana when we go inside. The moment we crossed that doorway, we are in enemy territory. Consider everything there as hostile and be ready for any potential ambushes. When we get inside, stay hidden and stay low. Be careful with the monsters, and don't engage unless you have to. A few of the assassins are in charge of killing them without making a sound. I'm not saying not to defend yourself, but if you can, let them do their thing. Get ready, go to the bathroom, drink some water, or do whatever you need to do. Again, we leave in 30 minutes, get ready," Spinner finished speaking and stepped out of the podium.
People started to prepare themselves, donning their armor and doing any last-minute preparations. Among them, some would stay in the camp. They only came for logistics support, and at the moment, they were passing around potions and buffing the people who were going to fight. If the worst came to pass, it would also be the last line of defense to ensure that all the centaurs were killed. Or at least to send a message that the operation had failed. Those who were not going to fight had the option to run from the room after this, and many would take that option since they didn't want to die while fighting against something so much stronger than them, but a couple decided to stay behind to help the army go back.
That was the same in all rooms connected to the centaur homeland. In one of such, a rocky, desolate room that had no water sources, no wind, and even the monsters were all made out of stone and other minerals, Insomniac was ready for the fight. Unlike most people, he was already wearing all his armor and carrying his longsword on his back even before Spinner's speech started. He was constantly doing patrols around the area ever since he got here. Now that the fight was about to start, he had one more thing to take care of.
"Hey. Have you seen… What is his name again? The guy who can turn monsters into toys," Insomniac asked one of the people who were distributing potions.
"Oh, you mean the Smug Leer? I think he is that way," the man pointed to the right, "if you are going there. Do you mind taking his share?"
"Sure," Insomniac grabbed the bag with the potions but mumbled to himself, "I don't think that was his name."
He walked around and found a man with tan skin and short black hair talking with a few of the mages, "Hey. You are the guy, right?"
The man turned around with an annoyed expression, but it soon turned to shock when he realized who was talking to him, "Hi… you're Insomniac. Aren't you?"
"Yes. Are you the guy? The one who can make toys out of monsters and stuff. I forgot your name," Insomniac rubbed his eyes, clearly too tired for small talk.
"Yes. I'm Chandler, but people call me Sculptor. Or Smug Leer from my old job…." Sculptor glanced back to the group of mages. Despite having a proper title now, everyone still called him his old nickname as a way to remind him where he stood amongst the explorers.
"Ok, Sculptor. You are with me for this thing," Insomniac looked back to the mages, "Do you need something from them?"
"Yeah. Part of my legacy can let me trap spells in figurines. I can make them last a couple of hours now. Had to take a bastard of a loan to make that happen," Sculptor sighed, "Do you have to do that too?"
Insomniac looked to the side and, after a moment, shook his head, "I could if there were any skills left for me to get. My legacy is new-ish. I'm only the third person to ever hold it. But what do spells have to do with them?" he pointed at the mages again.
"Oh yeah. They are casting some big spells that we tested before so I can store them in figurines for the fight," Sculptor took a moment to look at Insomniac, "Are you, ok? You look dead tired."
"I am tired."
"Right, your legacy thing… How long has it been since you had a decent night of sleep?"
"Probably ever since I got the legacy. But if you are asking when was the last time I slept, it was about two months ago."
"Fuck me. That's too much. How are you even able to stand? Can you even participate in this like that?"
Insomniac nodded, "I got a skill that lets me keep a well-rested body for later. When we are about to start, I'll trigger it, and for the next 2 days, it will be like I just woke up from a long night of sleep. Also, here. The potions."
"Oh, thanks," Sculptor stopped for a moment, waiting for the highest level explorer in the world to say something else, but after a while, it seemed like he was done talking, "If this is all I'm going to head back now."
"No. There's something else. Sync up your communicator with mine. For this war, you're going to stay with me. You don't have a say in this. The order came from above."
"Oh… I guess they still don't trust me," Sculptor sighed and used his tablet to connect to Insomniac's communicators.
"It might be their reason, but it's not mine."
"What is yours then? Did you lose someone because of what I did and want revenge?"
"What? No. I'm doing this because of your legacy."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Insomniac frowned, "Everything. If things go south and we lose this, we need to make sure that the centaurs don't have your legacy. If they do, everyone is going to be in danger. So congratulations. You have the strongest bodyguard in the world."
"I… didn't even think of that… Thank you. And I'll be sure to see if I can bring you back with me too."
"I appreciate that. But if they have my legacy, it won't be as bad as if they have yours. I also have a few tricks I can use to run away if I need to. Anyway, starting now, don't turn off the communicator. I don't care if you're going to the bathroom, if you're talking to your mother, or if you're going to the woods for a quickie with someone. Until this is over, keep the communicator on at all times."
"I never pegged you as a voyeur," Sculptor chuckled but quickly stopped when he noticed Insomniac's face, "No jokes. Got it."
"Try again when I activate my skill. It's hard to have a sense of humor when you're this tired."
"Ok. I'll get the spells that I have to. Then we can head to the front. We are not exactly part of the blocking group, but I'll send in some monsters as a distraction when they are in position."
"Are those monsters friendly to us?" Insomniac asked.
"Not really. They are just monsters. It will help to have someone to watch my back," Sculptor smiled, and Insomniac just nodded in reply. With that, the former smuggler turned back to the mages who used a couple of large scales spells only to have them trapped in small silver figurines with depictions of the spells. Usually, he wouldn't be able to gather such large spells with his legacy. But thanks to the guild's support, he had a considerable amount of silver that could be consumed to make said figurines. This was a new ability he had, the one he had to get a loan from the legacy to acquire. The main problem with the skill was that it didn't require just silver but a specific type of silver that had mana inside it. It was essentially ores that could behave like mana stones, a rare and highly sought-after material. Having a legacy to consume them for a one-off thing sounded insane, yet here he was.
After all preparations, Spinner gave the signal for them to head inside. The war against the centaur was about to start.
Comments
Gail Burke
Wow, didn't stop to think of the possibilities with the wendigos before this chapter, and it's good to see Chandler again.
