Battlefield Reclaimer, Ch 42: Fatal Attraction (Patreon)

Before the three of them could go any farther down the tunnel, a strange figure came jogging around the curve, its footsteps thudding into the ground as it ran. It was...some version of Ayala, but formed from a dark stone that matched the cave walls.

Given his current mood, only the fact that it looked like an ally kept Sam from attacking it. As it came closer, the figure’s features were more easily visible, making it clear that it was some type of golem. Its body shape and clothes were an exact match for Ayala’s, except that they were all made of stone, but the expression on its face was firmer and more determined than he’d ever seen on her before.

What in the world was going on? He’d never heard of a lifelike rock golem as a mage spell.... A moment later the name of Ayala’s class came back to his mind, making several things apparent all at once.

She was an Earthwalker Mage. It wasn’t clear if this golem was Ayala herself or something she had summoned, but this had to be one of the main abilities of her class. The figure thudded to a stop next to Sam and Krana.

“This is a disposable golem,” the stone figure rasped out an explanation with a gravelly echo. It sounded like Ayala mixed with an avalanche. “I can only summon the one right now. It takes most of my attention to control it, but I’ll try to help. The cave is secure and I’ve raised new walls on both sides. Yeres is unconscious and his wounds are sealed. I’ve also retrieved Lesat. I’ll hold the area there and this golem can accompany you.”

Her words were precise and clear, almost militaristic, and Sam stared at the golem for a moment, wondering what had happened to the shy princess he’d seen before. This was an entirely different Ayala.

“Fine, we’re heading out now.” Sam shook his head, turning around to look back down the tunnel. The golem looked durable and ready for battle, much more than the church princess did on her own. Perhaps it would be useful.

There were more sparks of essence not too far from them. He wasn’t able to tell the exact number, but their essence felt stronger than any of the earlier packs.

The four of them moved past the scattered limbs of the spiders and farther down the tunnel, keeping their eyes out for anything else that might appear.

It wasn’t clear how far the spiders had come before they encountered them, but the answer was clear a moment later as they rounded the curve in the tunnel and caught sight of another pack of spiders.

These were the ones he’d felt. There was almost a hundred feet between them, but it was easy to see that this group was different, with two spiders that were larger than the others, and behind them....

There was a scintillating ripple of colors hanging in the air like an unholy eye. It radiated purple, red, black, and yellow light, as well as a rainbow of seemingly every other color in existence and a few that weren’t. It swirled with an intense twisting force that tore at his eyes.

Tiny starbursts of energy were flaring out from the edges, surrounding it in a halo of sparks that tried to shoot outwards, only to encounter some barrier as they fizzled out and fell downward to be reabsorbed by the rainbow of light.

At the center, there was a dark gash filled with red and black streaks that matched the color of the spiders’ chitin. All around it, there was a sense of pressure, so much that reality around it froze, holding everything still as the world blocked it from spreading any further.

That had to be the flaw, although it wasn’t clear where it went. Despite the seriousness of its presence, curiosity sparked through Sam’s mind as he wondered what was on the other side of the world barrier...and outside of the seal.

Was it a place unique to the spiders, like the hell they had been named after, or an area that had other beasts as well, and the spiders were just the first to find a way through?

The flaw resonated in his vision, glowing with a sort of fatal attraction as the twisting sensation turned into a pull. He could feel the slow pulse of essence inside it, somewhere very distant, and it called to him. Somehow, he knew that if he seized that energy, he would grow stronger.

Much stronger.

For an instant, he almost wanted to leap through it, tearing his way into a new world to conquer it and take it for his own. His eyes dilated, the black slits at the center fluctuating with the space at the center of the flaw. Then he pushed the emotion back down, letting his common sense take control. His eyes returned to normal.

Click... Tiiingg.  HisssSSs.

As soon as they came into view, the spiders turned towards them, their jaws clattering as their serrated legs stabbed at the tunnel floor. Their signature red stripes flowed across their carapaces like demonic flowers blooming as their front legs rose threateningly into the air.

There were six of them in this group. He didn’t feel any others close by, so hopefully these were the last ones they’d have to deal with. Four of the spiders were the same as the ones they had just faced, but the last two were half again as big. Their stomachs were on the same level as the heads of the smaller spiders.

As soon as their presence registered, Sam started to condense more crystal flames for an Essence Blade, but then he stopped himself, adding the flames to the spiral around him. He was almost out of essence and if he used that spell again, he’d be tapped out. They needed to fight this in a smarter way. He didn’t want a repeat of the gnome village, when he ran out of energy right before the warlord appeared.

The spiders weren’t rushing forward, which was enough for a rough idea to form.

“I’m nearly out of energy,” Sam muttered to the others. “I’ll do what I can, but I need you to break the shields and get in close. I’ll take advantage of the openings.”

“I’ll go in first and draw their attention,” Ayala’s golem immediately volunteered. Her voice was clear and firm. “It should create a distraction.”

“You’ll need a weapon.” Jeric glanced at the golem as he shook his head. He grabbed the old Spear of Earth and Fire from his bag and passed it to her. “Take this and let’s move before they do anything else. I’ll go in next.”

His father’s voice was stern and he was radiating a powerful wave of golden-red energy, a combination of his Stamina and mana.

Ayala took the spear with a nod. Then, without any hesitation, she started running forward with heavy thudding footsteps, heading straight for the spiders.

Jeric held back for a dozen steps and then followed, charging as his Earthen Shield flared brighter around him. Behind him, Krana also raced forward, her warhammer shining brilliantly.

A crystal flame sphere formed between Sam’s hands as he matched their pace, staying a bit behind them as he waited for the right moment.

As they saw the golem approaching, the spiders abandoned their defensive posture and swarmed forward to attack. The larger ones shoved past the others, lunging from above as their front legs shot down like serrated spears. The regular spiders raced around the sides, trying to get there too.

Krissshhht.

The flame sphere shot out of Sam’s hands in a condensed roil of energy like a miniature sun, whistling past Ayala as it headed for one of the larger spiders. As the spell approached, the smaller ones froze, the stripes on their carapaces rising into a shield, but the larger ones didn’t seem to care.

They continued to lunge toward Ayala as the sphere closed in. The red stripes on their bodies writhed, but they didn’t rise up into a shield. The sphere exploded against the one that was slightly farther back, surrounding it in a hissing wash of crystal flame.

The flames clung to it, rippling across its body in a strange undulation as the stripes beneath brightened until they were visible through the explosion. When the flames faded, there was a seared streak across the spider’s carapace and a long, melted area, but that was all.

They were more durable than the regular variety.

Before he could switch to another spell, Ayala was already in range of the closest spider. Her golem leapt forward, its feet leaving the ground by only a few inches as it drove the spear towards the spider’s head. She handled the new spear easily, probably better than he could have. He had to wonder what her life had been like growing up.

The spider’s two forward legs slammed into her stone body like deadly pincers closing as she stabbed towards it. Shattered bits of stone flew away from her abdomen and leg. The blow sent her spinning to the side as it deflected her attack, and she slid heavily across against the ground for a few feet until she caught herself. Despite her weight, the spider was stronger.

The spider recoiled, preparing to strike again, but the golem caught itself and lunged back at it. She was already close and this time, she reached the spider first, the spear in her hand driving upwards into its neck as it let out a screech. Its jaws slammed together, clamping around the spear.

At the same time, Jeric sprinted forward as his hammers slammed toward the other large spider. The weapons were surrounded by a reverberating humm that echoed off the walls, and when they struck, they sheared straight through one of the spider’s legs and ripped an enormous chunk out of its carapace. He didn’t stop there, continuing forward as he carried the attack into the normal spiders behind it. Spider legs stabbed towards him in serrated blurs, striking sparks off his shield.

Krana raced in a moment later, cracked through one of the normal spider’s shields as she went for its head.

The melee fighters were too close for Sam to use large spells now, so he broke the flame sphere he had started to summon into two parts, dividing it into arrows that shot forward. A moment later, half a dozen more followed as he aimed for open areas.

With the attackers so close, the spiders didn’t form their shields again and the arrows ripped through the bodies of three of the normal ones in explosive crackles of black chitin. Charred organs and fluids followed, splattering across the tunnel behind them. They stood there for a moment, frozen, until their legs began to sag as they fell towards the ground.

Only one of the regular spiders was left, and a moment later two more arrows exploded through its head and abdomen, scattering its brains across the wall.

Sam turned his attention to the two big ones. The strange rainbow flaw was still there behind them, floating in the air, but for now it was silent. Hopefully, nothing else would come out of it.

His father pressed the attack on the one he’d been fighting. Its front legs were already crippled, the serrations broken in multiple places as they hung at its sides. It was trying to back up as Jeric chased it, crushing new dents into its carapace with every blow. There was a building surge of power along the spider’s back as the stripes there began to ripple and a warning flared down Sam’s spine.

“Careful!” he shouted, as he raced forward. Six new arrows flew ahead of him, whistling toward the large spider. Ahead of him, his father growled, his arms rising higher into the air as his shield intensified.

The red stripes on the large spider lifted out of its carapace in a blur of aggression, striking forward like vipers. There were a dozen of them and they slammed into Jeric’s Earthen Shield with a splintering crack, breaking through it as they whipped across his body. Each of them was a thin, bright blade.

At the same time, Sam’s arrows slammed into the spider, piercing through its defenses as they tore into it with pulverizing force. As they hit it, Sam was already rushing toward his father, but he stopped a moment later as he saw that he was fine.

His father was already turning toward the last spider. His body was covered in burnt, red streaks that were filled with thin lines of blood, but he was moving easily. Sam let out a quick breath of relief as he realized he’d underestimated his father’s defense.

Ayala’s golem was the closest to the other spider as it tried a similar attack. This time, the red stripes lifted off its carapace and lashed through the stone figure with hissing speed, leaving behind lines of shattered rubble. A moment later, her golem exploded apart into a dozen chunks.

Sam glanced at his dad and then down at the rubble, as he realized he had no idea exactly how strong his father had become. From the looks of it, Ayala’s golem was much weaker.

For another few moments, the cavern around them echoed with the dull sound of hammers and the sizzle of Sam’s flames, but he tried to conserve the last part of his essence. As a result, it took a little longer to kill the last one, but eventually the three of them stood there, breathing heavily.

After a moment, the star on Sam’s hand flickered, dimming slightly as the sense of alarm from it faded. It wasn’t entirely gone, but it felt like part of the threat had been neutralized.

“I think that’s all of the spiders,” Sam said, looking around them as he took stock of the damage. Chitin and spider guts were everywhere, coating the walls of the tunnel in a sulphuric stench. He waved his hand, covering all of it in a wave of flame as he tried to purify the air.

“Ugh,” Krana agreed, wincing as she held a hand over her nose. Her other arm was tight to her side. A spider had wrenched it at one point by trying to tear away her hammer, and she’d had to switch hands. “That smells almost as bad as dead goblins.”

“So, that’s a flaw, is it?” Jeric looked around, waving a hand in front of his nose, as he grunted in agreement with Krana’s opinion. “It looks dangerous. What are we supposed to do with it?”

The spiders were dead, but the flaw was still there, shimmering in the air with that unsettling glow.

After a moment, the voice of the World Law appeared, resonating in their minds. It was the version that had some personality, as if the World Law were paying attention this time.

You have contributed to the defense of Aster Fall and eliminated all of the Outsiders in your vicinity.

Claim the experience so that the Flaw in the Seal can be closed.

The words were expectant, as if it were waiting for them to take the last step. As Sam heard it, something clicked in his mind.

The World Law could control the flow of experience, but it couldn’t pull it directly from the corpses. That was why it needed people to help.

He could feel the flaw pulsing in front of him, like a rainbow heart beating between the veils of reality. His attention returned to it again as he felt the desire to jump in.

He had to admit that he was curious about what was on the other side, but he forced it back down. Jumping into an unknown portal to some version of hell was not a good idea.

Especially not when he had a family to think about and a world that needed to be fixed.

Maybe after that?

The thought floated through his mind, and he shoved it away as well, attributing it to the effect of the flaw. It had some strange power of attraction for essence, or these spiders would probably have never come through.

“We’ll have to claim the experience, but it’s a waste if we’re at the daily limit,” he suggested. As he thought about what to do, he went around to each of the corpses and reclaimed the auras. He only got three of them, but at least it was something. At the same time, he also ripped the sparks of essence from them. The sense of blood-drenched battle that came with them ricocheted through his blood, stirring his emotions again before it settled down.

“Perhaps Ayala can gain something?” Krana suggested, looking between the corpses. “She fought here as well.”

“Let’s go get her,” Sam agreed with a sigh. “It looks like the flaw won’t close until we do.”

It was true that she had fought with them. After seeing her in battle, his opinion of the girl was starting to change. She had been forthright and determined, willing to jump straight into it and to do what was needed.

Maybe he needed to give her another chance.

He sent a long glance back as they walked toward the cavern, ignoring the scattered Outsider corpses lying on every side. Behind them, the flaw rippled like a rainbow awl that had been drilled through the universe.

Hopefully, it would be safe enough there for a few minutes.