TtOW! - Chapter 38: Terminate the Felix Pluvia! (Patreon)

“Hostiles detected, engaging near-termination protocols.”

A jolt of lighting fired out of the strange man-thing and struck a group of goblins lying in ambush.  Rattingtale grimaced but his loyal subjects showed no such hesitation.  They leapt from the monster hangar and rushed forward, sinking their fangs into the immobilized monsters.

Rattingtale reluctantly joined them, closing his eyes as he bit down.  He trembled as the cold rain drenched his fur, as well.

[The skill Bite is now level 7!]

[You have slain Goblin Warrior (Level 7)!]

[Gained 23 XP!]

[Level up!  You are now level 7!]

Rattingtale shuddered at the dirty, laborious affair.  He still could not believe that he, His Royal Majesty Excellion Formantus Rattingtale the Third, the Great-High King of all the land, had been reduced to a mere butcher.

Stil, he had to admit the boss-queen was most generous, offering them practically free experience like this.  Foolish even.  What sort of dungeon master not only stooped to fight in person, but fought for their subordinates of all things?  A dungeon master was lord of the realm, the heart of the dungeon, the one who could draw on its power and who held the power of life and death over everyone and everything within it.  One could even call them the creator of their monsters, a parent at minimum.  It was only natural that those subordinates should then serve and protect their master.

In fact, fighting and dying on behalf of the dungeon was a subordinate’s duty, their reason to exist.  Those who died could be replaced by a simple expenditure of constantly refilling mana.  Only those who proved themselves worthy through their deeds would be granted the honor of a name and have any amount of effort or resources granted to them.

At least, that was how it should have been, according to Rattingtale’s understanding of things.

So what sort of dungeon master stood in front of their subordinates, clearing the way for them?  What dungeon master offered up her own kills as if she were the subordinate?  What sort of dungeon master invested time and effort into level one rat monsters who had done nothing of all?  What sort of dungeon master spent more mana healing a rat monster than it took to summon a new one in the first place?

Rattingtale frowned, narrowing his eyes.  He might have understood it if she was just a man-thing, the man-things are known to act strangely and foolishly at times.  But she was a dungeon master, a being much like himself, one who had bested him even.  So he could not understand her actions.  Was she truly as foolish and strange as the average man-thing?  Or was there more to her actions?  What could she possibly gain from all this?

“Status Report: All hostiles terminated.  All friendlies, return to the hangar for transit.”

“““Yes yes, boss-queen!”””

Rattingtale’s eyes widened as he watched all the rat monsters stand up straight and cry out in reply.  He looked into their eyes as his loyal subjects stared up at the strange man-things, especially the one who had been healed by her.

Their eyes did not waver or twitch.

They held no deceit or fear.

No.

They held respect.

They held reverence.

Rattingtale’s heart started to pound.

He realized her intent.

Honestly, these monsters were beneath the boss-queen.  She could annihilate them in an instant and would likely gain little for the effort.  And she could incapacitate them just as easily.

So it cost her very little to offer them to him and his subordinates.

And what did she gain in return?

In one fell swoop, she had usurped his subjects’ loyalty, right out from under him.

Rattingtale shuddered.  She knew.  And she had destroyed his plans in an instant.

She was declaring to him who was the lord of the realm.

He cleaned his whiskers as he climbed back into the monster hangar.

She was a worthy foe indeed.  As expected of the one who bested the Great-High King of all the land.

He would need to rethink his plans.

Still though, she had not called him out just yet.  In fact, was still offering him kills.  Perhaps she hadn’t fully realized his intentions?

That, or it was an intentional insult.  A declaration that he would never threaten her, even if she handed him power herself.

His body grew hot.

The Great-High King of all the land would not be humiliated like this!

He would find a way to overcome this strange man-thing!

“Hostiles detected.  Engaging near-termination protocols.”

…eventually.  For now, he would swallow his pride and accept her handouts.

One day, she would come to regret underestimating His Royal Majesty Excellion Formantus Rattingtale the Third!

Meanwhile the other rats prepared themselves to leap out of the monster hangar at the boss-queen’s command.  They glanced at one another.

“Should we tell-inform the boss-queen about…that’s obvious intentions?”

“No, the boss-queen is wise-powerful, yes yes.  Surely she already formed-created a plan to handle that, yes yes.”

“Amazing-incredible, as expected of the boss-queen, yes yes!”

Meanwhile NSLICE-00P…was simply focused on executing search-and-destroy protocols and the subordinate upgrade routine.

***

Eventually, NSLICE-00P neared the target area.  Her sensors caught glimpses of a powerful energy signature, though she was having trouble acquiring a full lock.

“Status Report: Target located within the vicinity.  All friendlies should remain within the hangar for the duration of the engagement.  Activating termination protocols.”

The rats acknowledged her orders and remained inside the hangar, watching the live feed.  Meanwhile NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye spun as she analyzed the data.

She determined there was a significant probability the target had stealth capabilities, given the readings she was analyzing.  Powerful stealth capabilities, given it was defeating her top-of-the-line, anti-superpower sensors that had been upgraded via mana as well.

And she realized the reason.

The rain in the area had an abnormally high concentration of mana.  Cassius had stated that the target could manipulate water and air attribute mana, so it was likely the target was manipulating atmospheric conditions to avoid detection.

NSLICE-00P calculated the options.  Her previous protocols and records suggested using the Equalizer to cut through the effect and reveal the target.  Her standard for defeating non-standards, remove the supernatural elements and then let her superior weapons and bionics handle the rest.  But those protocols had put her in dangerous situations more than once, so this time she took the time to consider alternatives as well.

And she came up with an option with a significantly higher probability of success, with a significantly lower risk to her.

“Engagement plan determined, engaging Invisibility protocol.”

[The spell Invisibility is now level 2!]

NSLICE-00P activated her new spell, vanishing from view.  She then engaged her thrusters and shot into the sky.  She then angled herself forward, positioning herself directly above the center of the area with elevated mana-levels.

“Activating Aurora Barrage protocol.”

A huge magic circle formed in the air below her.  Patterns of light shifted across the sky, reflecting in the rain around it.

And then…

Beams of light fell from the sky, saturating the target area.

Likewise, panels opened all over NSLICE-00P, launching anti-personnel missiles all across the area as well.

The beams of light hissed as they cut through the rain.  Some of them were partially or even fully refracted by the mana-filled rain and winds in the area, but the majority still made it to the ground.  The mana density of the rain could not be compared to a strategic spell cast with dungeon mana.

Still, NSLICE-00P wasn’t content with that.  And had something she wished to test in any case.

“Countermeasures detected, engaging Spell Penetration Protocol.”

[The skill Spell Penetration is now level 2!]

NSLICE-00P activated her new skill, pouring mana into it to boost its effect.  The Spell Penetration skill wasn’t an exact counter to attribute match-ups, but it did make a spell harder to counter in general.  NSLICE-00P noted a decrease in the refraction effect, allowing more of her beams to strike the ground with more of their power.

And, of course, the missiles weren’t affected at all.

Even up in the sky, she heard a roar cut through the rain as explosions filled the area beneath her.

The target began to move.  NSLICE-00P hadn’t locked onto a precise location yet but the whole area of mana-infused rain was moving along with it.  So she simply flew after it, her spell following her.

The roars continued and eventually the target area stopped moving.  NSLICE-00P logged the mana condensing down within the area.

The rain formed into hardened projectiles and shot up into the air at her.

It seemed the target had decided to stand and fight.

And so had made a mistake.

The target had condensed down the mana-infused rain, removing its cover and causing its mana signature to blare out.  NSLICE-00P immediately acquired a target lock and reacted accordingly.

The barrage of beams stopped, then all fired at a location slightly in front of her.  The beams fused together, and then shot forward.

A massive beam lit up the sky, cutting through the barrage of rain.

And the target below.

[You have slain Felix Pluvia (Level 20!)]

[Gained 4 Personal XP and 3 Dungeon XP!]

[The spell Aurora Barrage is now level 3!]

“Engagement Report: Target terminated.”

Author’s Note:

Termination’s back on the menu!  Turns out stealth ain’t a problem if you have access to orbital bombardment.

So, you know, good luck to the Great-High King of all the land!  Any confirmed hostile intent will be met with orbital bombardment termination so time your plan well.

Anyways!

Can the Great-High King of all the land come up with a plan to overcome his great rival?  How does the wise-powerful boss-queen plan to respond?  Tune in next time, to find out!