"So, what"s my role in all of this?" Jeffery asked, still feeling s.h.i.+vers running down his spine after being affected by the Undead"s enthusiasm for the upcoming fight.
"Oh don"t worry, I haven"t forgotten about you. You"ll have the best role, bro. Come with me," Dave answered with a smirk on his face before he led Jeffery away from the Undead, standing in square formations.
Jeffery followed Dave until they were an arrow"s shot away from the gates of the city Dave was going to invade.
"You"ll be dealing with those guys," Dave pointed at the front row of the Qin Army.
Jeffery followed Dave"s pointed finger and saw what he was talking about.
At the front of the more than one thousand soldiers, was a neat square formation of Elite Soldiers.
Jeffery took a quick count and noted that they were aligned in five twenty-man rows. There were a total of one hundred Qin Elite Soldiers stationed upfront, and they alone were a threat to anyone foolish enough to face them head-on.
"Bro, I"m not trying to sound like a coward, but isn"t that totally suicidal?" The Hunter swallowed hard.
"What do you mean?"
"I could probably kill a dozen or so of these guys, but a hundred? That"s way too many. I"m honored you think so highly of me, but I fear I"ll just get rushed down in no time. We"ll be lucky if my Mecha manages to hold them off for just half a minute."
"Don"t worry about getting swarmed. I"ll station enough Undead near you that not even their spit will reach you. Just focus on dealing as much damage as I know you can!" Dave rea.s.sured his companion.
"…Ok, so when do we start?" Jeffery asked with a bit more confidence.
"In a moment," Dave answered.
"Took you guys long enough," the Draugr jokingly complained to the group coming towards them.
"Yeah, you"re kinda too deep into Qin territory. Not so easy getting here in one piece" an armored player in bronze plate armor replied.
Jeffery turned to see Blaster, the captain of the A-20 Unit for the Devastator Main Army, and right next to him was the famous a.s.sa.s.sin in White: Mercy, owner of the Shadow a.s.sa.s.sin Legacy. For some reason, she sent Dave a disapproving look before returning to her normal emotionless self.
There were a few others with Blaster, whom Jeffery was very familiar with, as they had all been featured in Mr. Skeletal"s adventures on CCN channel.
The famous TNT, Perfect Shot, p.u.s.s.y Flanker and Human Fortress. The elven lady who captured the Undead Draugr"s heart, Lone Arrow. The Destruction Legacy Holder, Tess. And a Bard who rarely appeared on Mr. Skeletal"s adventures, yet she was also quite famous in her own right. Both through her modeling career as well as her musical skills in-game. The Bard Demeri.
"If not for Nora"s Teleportation Gate, it would have taken us even more time," Flanker couldn"t help but let his loose mouth run wild.
"Nora?" Jeffery asked confused.
"It"s a city nearby," Fortress clarified.
Dave gave both Fortress and Flanker a disapproving look. It was one thing for the lecherous Priest to not know better, but Fortress was usually reasonable. The two had yet to realize that it would have been wiser to keep their mouths shut and not divulge any information regarding the Gates which Dave had converted to his own use.
Jeffery spoke, "You guys have control of a city within the Qin territory? That"s big news, man, everyone will be thrilled to find ou-" but he suddenly quieted down. Realizing that if the Undead had the Gate coordinates without sharing them, it was most likely for reasons of secrecy.
Dave didn"t want to stay on the subject so before the situation turned even more awkward he tried to s.h.i.+ft the topic; "It doesn"t matter, it was bound to become known soon anyway. I hope you can pretend you didn"t hear that and let me disclose it at my leisure. Now, let"s hunt ourselves some Qin Soldiers. Guys take position."
"Alright boss," Flanker was the first to agree and quickly fell back. It was unclear if the Priest was raring to go or whether his bird brain had just realised, the damage he may have caused.
"I"ll stay with Jeffery," Fortress volunteered, "In case some Qin Elite decides to ignore you two and go for the Mecha."
"Just admit you want to check up on the big robot," Flanker teased his buddy.
"It"s a Mecha, man! Have some respect!" Fortress shouted back. Fortress"s voice changed tone when he addressed Tess next: "Honey-Bunny wanna come with us? I"ll protect you, too."
"Sure sweety," Tess agreed cooing at Fortress"s words.
"Ugh, I"ll never understand you two," Flanker gave his usual comments after faking a gag and went even further back away from the group. The safest position the healer could be in was away from the frontline but close enough to heal his teammates.
Mercy faded into invisibility, while Lone and Perfect Shot began searching for a good vantage point to snipe the enemy units.
"Let me buff you all," Demeri offered. She began plucking the strings of her harp in a fast tempo, creating an exciting themed song that pervaded through both Dave"s party and his Undead army. The Bard"s Buff was neutral and unlike Flanker"s Holy Buffs, it didn"t harm the Undead. Though the Buff itself was limited to a minor percentage increase, given the vast amount of the Undead"s numbers every little bit added up to a scary result.
"Jeffery, once I begin the a.s.sault, make sure to keep the Qin Soldiers on their toes!"
Dave turned to his Undead and ordered, "LEGIONNAIRES! MARCH FORWARD!"
Yet before the first Undead took a step forward, Dave had turned and ran ahead of everyone.
The Undead behind him surged forward like the tides of death, aiming to quell all the living.
There was movement atop the walls of the city, many soldiers nocked their arrows and prepared to let loose their first volley.
"Dave! You"re too far ahead! Be careful, they have archers on top of the walls, they"ll burst you down!" Lone shouted.
"Don"t worry about me!" Dave replied.
The Qin Elite Soldiers marched forward slowly, unafraid of the approaching stampede.
"Should we help him?" Jeffery was unsure how to act to this strange development.
"No, he said to wait for his signal." Blaster shook his head. "He must have something in mind, let"s wait and see."
Just as Ralph finished his words, and the first arrow was loosed from the walls, Dave jumped.
"EAT THIS!" Dave pointed his s.h.i.+eld mid-jump and the jaws on the s.h.i.+eld opened up, rejecting the last spell consumed.
It was the Chosen of the Ash King"s spell, the Dragon"s Breath that Dave had previously absorbed.
Suddenly, a new Sun emerged out of seemingly nowhere, searing gra.s.s and increasing the heat of the area by several fold.
The fireball grew at an enormous rate and shot forward like a meteor. The Qin Soldiers at the backline had no way to dodge the searing fireball, and the Elite Soldiers of Qin could only stare in confusion, at how such enormous magic had been summoned without the caster chanting to gather such power allowing them to prepare something.
A few soldiers possessed the wit to use their s.h.i.+elds in front of them, but many failed to attempt any means of protection, not that it would have helped anyway.
The fireball shot forward, moving through the enemy ranks and continued onward until it struck the walls of the city, blasting through them, and sending heat waves through the walls of the city, melting stone into molten rocks, and burning bodies into ash.
Of the hundred Elite Soldiers, less than half remained. Those caught in the wake of the fireball lay burnt on the ground, their armor melted upon their bodies and bones and the fire had risen hotter and larger than Dave had ever expected.
He was very grateful for this surprising amount of damage from this Skill, but unfortunately, it was still not enough to cull every life in front of him.
Still, the fact remained that of the thousand soldiers protecting the city, more than two-thirds had died by this very first attack, securing Dave a good chunk of EXP, enough that he leveled up twice.
Unfortunately, it was also true that many apparently about a third of the Qin Elite Soldiers survived the ordeal. What"s more, the remnants had suffered mild to no injuries thanks to them either using their protection Skills or because they were lucky enough and skilled enough to jump away from the brunt of the fires.
"Now! Everyone! Begin!" Dave commanded. He didn"t want to lose the chance while the enemy was still in disarray.
"Alright, I"m on it!" Jeffery began tapping the runic writing on one of his bracers.
Suddenly, Jeffery"s body became encased in metallic armor, then he began growing, turning into a dozen meter tall Mecha.
"Let"s load up the big guns!" Jeffery shouted. The Mecha"s arms transformed into cannons, then he jerked the hands back and forward, causing a clicking sound to echo out. Meanwhile, Fortress"s eyes were turning into stars.
"Locked and loaded! Eat up!" Jeffery shouted.
Immediately afterward, several dozen blue plasma shots flew out of the cannons on the Mecha"s hands. Blasting through the Elite Soldiers like there was no tomorrow.
Dave nodded as he noticed the Elite Soldiers unable to defend against the extremely rapid bombardment.
"Great job!" Dave praised. "Now, it"s my turn!" Dave drew his sword and charged into the fray. Believing in his friends to back him up, while he began a slaughter through the ranks of the injured Elite Soldiers.
Dave"s Undead army didn"t take long to back up their leader. They were like the marching tide, forcing most of the Qin Soldiers to focus on them due to their sheer numbers. If the Qin Soldiers didn"t resist the Undead march, their city was going to get swamped and suffocated. All thanks to Dave"s earlier attack that had literally melted the city walls away.
The Elite Soldiers might have been stronger than Dave"s Undead, but they weren"t as numerous. Even if some of the Elites, killed one or two Undead Death Knights, the rest of the Undead would surround, overwhelm and slaughter the Elite in seconds.
Dave had found himself facing off against three of the Elite Soldiers. A difficult encounter even for him.
One of the Qin Elites charged at Dave with a cleaver in hand, swinging in a direct and overhanded manner at Dave"s head.
The Draugr, however, didn"t dodge, as he was aware that as soon as he did the rest of the Qin Soldiers would close the gap probably ending him.
Instead, he let the jaws of the Cursed s.h.i.+eld of Ajax open up and lock themselves on the sword. Then Dave pushed the attacking soldier forward, giving himself the opportunity to back away from the other two Elites.
Dave swung his s.h.i.+eld to the side, thanks to his more than one thousand points in Strength, and the Qin Soldiers"s stubbornness in keeping his hand locked onto his sword, Dave managed to lift the soldier and slam him into his comrades.
Before the Qin Soldiers could stand back up, Dave opened his mouth wide and shot a [Ray of Flames] into the three of them.
The soldiers burnt and squirmed in pain. But they didn"t die, in fact, their HP was still high. Only the Dragon"s Breath had been enough to one-shot many of them, and Dave"s [Ray of Flams] wasn"t as powerful as the stolen Boss Skill.
One of the regular soldiers attempted to backstab Dave who was still occupied with the three Qin Elites. However, the a.s.sa.s.sin"s attempt went in vain as an arrow struck his temple, causing the a.s.sa.s.sin to die on the spot, barely releasing a grunt.
Dave turned to see the dead a.s.sa.s.sin, then he heard Lone"s voice through the party com, "I got your back, you can keep fighting."
"Thanks love," Dave smiled and continued on with even more vigor.
Many other weaker soldiers tried their luck as well, but the perfectly aimed shots always brought them down. Dave realized that because he was the "leader" of the a.s.sault, the Qin Soldiers must have a.s.sumed that by killing him, the Undead a.s.sault would falter.
Yet the reality was far from that, the Undead"s moral was impossible to change, they knew no fear, knew not to retreat and believed that no matter how the odds were stacked against them, with enough soldiers, enough members, they would be able to quell all and slay all. So what if their leader falls, another would take his mantle and would move the army forward to break the enemy line. As long as even a single member remains, they would die trying to achieve their goals.
However, the numerous attempts at Dave"s life grew more tiresome for him. All at once, three came at him and Lone Arrow was barely able to shoot two while he dealt with the third.
"This is getting annoying!" Dave shouted, the a.s.sa.s.sins were not letting him move at his leisure, so he opted for scaring them the h.e.l.l away from him. Literally.
Dave used [Infernal Tyrant"s Oppression] causing a ma.s.sive sized black ethereal skull to materialize above his head. An infernal aura blasted off from Dave as if the fire had turned to submerge black waters, engulfing anything near him in burning heat, and forcing many of the Qin Soldiers to flee in terror.
"That"s more like it," Dave grinned. "But you guys are getting way over your heads," Dave stomped his foot on the ground. Causing mild seismic vibrations to go through the ground. Then soon after, the skies began to darken. The atmosphere turned eerie, as Dave"s skill [Blot the Sun] came into effect.
Now, Dave"s Undead, under [Blot the Sun"s] effect gained another breath and a surge of power, every fighter gained more momentum, and the weaker Undead that suffered against their foes began regenerating their health at a faster pace. All in all, they managed to tip the scale of the fight in their favor once the aura of [Blot The Sun] covered them.
"Aerial Reinforcements incoming!" Perfect Shot called out a warning.
Dave looked up, noticing the many wyverns pa.s.sing through the dark clouds of his Skill.
"It"s about time. Tiny, you"re up!" Dave summoned his little friend as he locked his gaze on the incoming Wyvern Riders.