HLCRiseofthefirstnecromancer
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Chapter 58
🕑 Added 2023-04-22 00:00:02 +0000 UTCChapter 58
Golems suck, Drew thought as more of the monsters continued to crash though the woods to his location. The Baleful Lady had been correct in her warning, the Golems were extremely resilient to damage. They stood a bit shorter than most people, but were completely comprised of compacted earth, stone, and worse… magically strengthened vines, which made cutting them apart a huge pain in the ass.
His [Corrupting Contagion] spell was basically useless against them, as it only seemed to affect the vines. Similarly, [Baleful Strike] was also rather worthless as the Golems apparently didn’t have souls. The only spell that worked well was [Death Toll], just due to the sheer damage it caused. Drew had the strength to cut through the legs and arms of the monsters with his sword, but attacks against the torso usually ended up with his weapon getting stuck within the monsters’ bodies.
The Kobolds in comparison were very easily taken care of. They were less numerous than the Goblins had been in his previous encounters, but they were still relatively weak. His spells and sword cut through them like a hot knife through butter.
Drew shot a [Death Toll], towards an incoming lumbering golem as he swung his sword to meet the neck of an unlucky Kobold that had popped out of some nearby brush. The screaming skull shot off like a rocket, its jaws unhinged as it tore into the Golem before exploding and sending earth-based shrapnel in all directions.
Drew had gathered the team of elites and led the charge against the incoming wave of monsters quickly after being alerted by The Baleful Lady. He had thought that the monsters would be a cakewalk for his team as several had hit E Grade and had advanced their classes, but the Golems made everything much more difficult.
Mark was basically a rogue with shadow powers, and his short swords did next to no damage due to his agility-based build, and while he now had an ability that used shadows to slow down and contain his targets, the Golem’s sheer mass and strength easily broke through the shadowy tendrils that tried to contain them.
Drew’s mom was doing okay though, her weakening curses worked wonders against the stone men and made them significantly easier to handle for everyone else, and Beefcake, her contracted Demon, easily smashed the Golems apart with his ridiculous levels of strength.
Miranda had a couple of spells that were somewhat effective against the stone men, but she was still limited in power because she hadn’t chosen a god or goddess as her patron deity for her Cleric class.
Amber and Freya stuck with handling the Kobolds, as Freya didn’t have any good methods of attack, and Amber’s arrows were like toothpicks to the walking boulders. Spock also was limited in his counters.
“I hate these things!” Mark yelled out over the sounds of combat.
“I concur!” Spock yelled back, clearly frustrated.
“They seem fine to me!” Beefcake joined in with a slight smile. He sparta-kicked one Golem, causing a total collapse of its chest while swinging his almost eight-foot sword clearly through another two off to his right.
“Not all of us take Demon Steroids!” Mark replied.
“You just need more protein in your diets!” Beefcake heartily laughed while dismembering another Golem.
Normally fighting in a heavily wooded area would be a detriment for someone with such a large weapon, but the Demon had pumped so many points into his Strength attribute that nothing could stop his momentum once he swung. The Golems actually helped in this regard as well, as they’d crash through the densely packed trees, pushing them aside or uprooting them as they pushed forward.
Originally, the Kobolds had tried sneaky tactics, bum-rushing the group while the Golems occupied them, or charging in from the group’s flanks, but as they were the sole focus of team members who couldn’t do anything against the Golems, such attacks failed. The diminutive draconic beings were clearly intelligent, as they’d attacked with crossbows and decent quality weapons, most of them even had leather armor.
However, there had never been a chance for diplomacy to take place. Either they couldn’t understand what the group had tried saying, or they didn’t care. Even Drew’s [Multiversal Tongues] ability had no effect, which supposedly granted him communication across all racial and language barriers. So either something was broken with the skill, which seemed unlikely, the Kobolds didn’t understand him, or most likely, they didn’t give a shit.
The monster wave lasted for a little over two hours, Drew and his team cleared the area of stragglers before returning to Sanctuary to rest and recuperate. While the monsters were now cleared out, the beast tides continued to assault the community from all sides, and defensive teams continued to swap out throughout the night.
Drew had entered seclusion once he was back, he didn’t have the luxury to rest that everyone else had. He had tried his best to coordinate his minions to help the lines of defense while he was busy with the Golems and Kobolds, but he wasn’t infallible, and Sanctuary lost eight defenders during that time.
He tried to look at it from a logical standpoint, only eight people had died during those two hours, and they had easily killed almost ten thousand beasts during that short period. All in all, the losses weren’t that bad from a strictly numerical standpoint, but from an emotional standpoint, they weighed heavily upon Drew’s mind.
The conflict of logic vs. emotion was ravaging his thoughts, but Drew forcefully pushed them aside. This wasn’t the time for reflection, he still had a job to do, and the living were still counting on him. He wouldn’t be weighed down by internal conflict when he could still protect the people around him. Drew sent orders to some of his low-leveled minions to retrieve the bodies of the fallen and bring them to him. Perhaps it was possible to bring back some of the slain.
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Dawn broke, and the bodies of Sanctuary’s enemies formed morbid mountains surrounding the settlement. Tension and death filled the air as the last of the beasts were killed off. Eight defenders had perished, one was brought back as a soulflame to continue their service in unlife to the community, their family and friends. The [Rites of Passage] were granted to two more who wished to move on to the afterlife, and the citizens mourned their loss.
A somber atmosphere pervaded the community. After all the hard work that the citizens had put in towards leveling and gaining strength, people had still lost their lives. They had accomplished so much in such a short amount of time, but it wasn’t enough to return unscathed in this new world of death and loss. Some people kept a positive attitude, they had managed to fend off tens of thousands of enemies and remained to see the sunrise, but many more people felt sadness due to the loss of people they’d become close to over these past weeks.
Five streaking meteors plummeted from the heavens. A commotion broke out amongst the citizens as heads were turned towards the sight. Many were not yet present in Sanctuary the first time such a sight crested the horizon and they began to panic, thinking the end had truly come. Veteran residents quickly calmed their neighbors with the explanation of these meteors, and the people held their collective breaths as the five made their final descent.
Sindra, and four of her Valkyrie sisters had arrived. Many people dropped to their knees and prayed as the five angel-like beings set foot upon the Earth. Even with the apocalypse, many people had kept their lifelong Christian held beliefs, and saw the women as the heralds of God. Religion was heavily infused in the culture of “South”, or southern states that made up America. People had grown up going to church several times a week, singing the hymns and praying to God, and those same beliefs were still held strongly by many.
America was rather diverse though, even in the southern states, not everyone dropped to their knees. Some people were non-religious, some held different beliefs altogether, and others had lost their faith after seeing so many of their loved ones and neighbors die. While they weren’t in the majority, many of the standing people were the veterans of the community. They’d been there the first time Sindra had arrived, they remembered the long training sessions they shared with her over the course of three weeks. To many of those people, Sindra was highly respected, but they knew she wasn’t truly an angel.
Drew slept while the Valkyries secured the town. When the last of the beasts had been culled, he crawled into bed and entered a deep sleep. The mental exhaustion of the night’s events had finally claimed him. He didn’t wake up until well into the late morning, his wife letting him sleep until he was fully rested.
The necromancer awoke and was quickly informed of the Valkyries' arrival. He freshened up and met with them shortly after.
“Greetings, my friend. It is good to see you.” Sindra smiled as she clasped Drew’s arm and hand in a warrior-style greeting.
“Long time, no see, Sindra. I’m happy to have you here again, although I wish it was under better circumstances.” Drew smiled back, happy to see his friend and coworker again.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t get here sooner, we left as soon as The Lady gave the order.” The other Valkyries stood behind and to her sides.
“We lost eight last night, but that’s not on you. I only wish I could have done more.” Drew nodded solemnly.
“Your planet was integrated forty-five days ago, I’d say it’s a testament to you and your people that you managed to survive at all.” Sindra said while surveying the mountains of bodies that laid outside the settlement. Several of her sister Valkyries nodded at this.
“I suppose you’re right, I just wasn’t able to command all my minions while also beating back the monster horde that hit us. The loss of life just feels like it could have been avoided if I was better.” Drew said as he shook his head in self-detriment.
“My friend, you are still young. You’re still growing. Losses happen, even when I’m in command. Each loss hurts, but you must use that pain as fuel to continue your growth. These people, and many others you haven’t met yet, are relying on you. Keep your chin up, and keep improving.” Sindra said kindly while placing her hand on his shoulder.
“You’re right. I need to improve and get stronger.” Drew replied.
“That’s the spirit. Now, these women behind me are my subordinates, and they’ll be staying here to help protect this settlement while you take care of things.”
“Nice to meet y’all, welcome to Sanctuary. We’re lacking in just about every form of luxury, but we’re very happy to have you here.” Drew said to the other warriors. They nodded in return.
Sindra nodded to the Valkyrie off to her right side, and the four quickly left.
“I see you’ve gathered more people since last I was here.” Sindra said while taking notice of several people who hovered nearby, hoping to get a look at their angelic visitors.
“Yeah, it’s a long story. In all honesty we need to begin scouting other nearby towns for survivors. Sanctuary needs more people to become self-sufficient in this new world, and we need to save any humans nearby. Especially with these fucking incursions that came out of nowhere.”
“Yes, I saw several of the incursions on the way down to the planet, and finding more people would be an excellent idea.” Sindra nodded
“Will your people be able to handle these invaders?” Drew asked.
“If they attack, we will defend this settlement without issue. Each of my subordinates is well into C Grade and should be more than enough to handle any of the invaders. But our orders from The Lady are defensive in nature, not offensive.”
“Why is that, couldn’t they just run in and give all the bad guys the boot?” Drew asked.
“How much do you know about The System?” Sindra asked in return.
“Uh… next to nothing I guess. I know it interceded to save our civilization and that’s why we were integrated, it also had a bunch of game-like elements, but that’s about all I know. Why?” Drew scratched his head while answering, clearly unsure why Sindra had asked the question.
“Come, let us walk to your new Pillar of Civilization. It’s time you learned more about the facts of life.” Sindra pointed her head to the marble-like building.
Comments
Ethan Barrow
Great chapter! Good fights and it was good character interactions too!
