Echoes of War, Ch 28: Interference (Patreon)

The next three days were full of enchanting work as Sam laid out the foundations for an area enchantment around the Passion Gate. That was what he’d taken to calling the portal. The area he’d chosen was about three miles wide, just enough to cover the cavern and its nightmarish forces. From up here, however, it was a rolling expanse of green vines that stretched for miles.

Apparently, this was the local duke’s vineyard, where he was cultivating some bright purple grapes. With the gently rolling hills and warm sun, it looked like prime territory. In other circumstances, it would have been an idyllic location. He had no doubt that the fellow would be upset if the spot was destroyed, but he could only blame his own bad luck.

When you build a vineyard on top of an ancient evil gate, you have to deal with the haunting.

It made him wonder if the essence from the gate ever influenced the crops and what the effect would be. A little madness with your wine? Nightmares?

Getting drunk was one thing, but if you added that to the equation, it would be explosive. Part of the enchantment he was building was designed to contain the loose energy, so if the fellow had any idea what was going on, he should be grateful.

He let the random thoughts keep him busy as he moved around the area embedding a few dozen Third Evolution beast cores and a couple of Fourth Evolution ones from the Void to support the various enchantment nodes he was creating. There were a lot of them.

The overall enchantment was laid out across the hills in five interlocking rings that intersected above the gate. Three of them were infused with moonlight from Amaris to target the energy here directly, while the other two were attuned to Caelus and Silvas for balance and in case there were any other forces in the gate. The runic structure borrowed mana from the earth, the stars, and a leyline that happened to be nearby, which should help to keep it from fading too quickly.

Even with his level, an enchantment powerful enough to contain the essence outflow from the gate was difficult to create. It required hundreds of thousands of points of essence just to establish the base, all of which was fragile until the final support structures locked it into place and the energy stabilized.

If the gate was more active, it wouldn’t have been possible at all without something like the relic to help. Perhaps at the Third or Fourth Star he could manage it alone, but it depended on how strong the gate really was when active.

At this rate, it would take him a couple more days to finish the foundational structure. Until then the entire enchantment was easily disrupted, so he had the Ice Drake hover above the area to keep watch as he continued to work. He didn’t need idle adventurers wandering across the fields and messing up the enchantment lines.

As if that thought had summoned trouble, however, he suddenly looked up with a frown, his attention turning to the north. A group of energy signatures was approaching quickly. As he focused on them to get a better reading, his expression quickly turned dark. Their speed was surprising, which suggested they were flying. The capital was in that direction, and from the energy the group was radiating, they weren’t weak.

It looked like there were a few dozen of them. Half were near the peak of the Third Evolution, between levels 370 and 399. The rest were in the lower half of the Third Evolution. Their auras were very similar to the group of army mages he’d killed near the relic, but even stronger. It was an extremely powerful force in terms of the kingdom.

It seemed someone had noticed him here.

He didn’t know how they’d found him exactly, but it was also true he hadn’t taken much effort to hide his route. Flying around in the Ice Drake wasn’t subtle. It looked like a giant blue dragon sweeping through the sky. He pushed the question aside as he looked around the enchantment he was creating. He had to keep them from disrupting it.

“Sleset, prepare for a fight,” he sent as he looked up at where the ship was hovering a few hundred feet above. “We have unexpected forces coming from the north. It looks like they aren’t here to talk. It seems to be the king’s army again. I wasn’t planning to deal with him yet, but he clearly wants to force the issue.”

“I was looking for a chance to exercise,” Sleset replied with a pleased hiss. “Only a handful of us are here, but we are prepared. The chieftain’s elites will fall before us.”

Sam only nodded as he looked around the area with a grimace. At the rate they were approaching, there was only a few minutes and the enchantment was still extremely fragile. A lot of essence was infused into it, but it hadn’t stabilized into a long-term structure. It was like a freshly drawn scroll where the entire thing could explode if you messed up the final few lines.

They really couldn’t have come at a worse time for his work.

With a wave of his hand, four defensive golems appeared next to him. Each of them was at Level 325 and built like a massive humanoid with four arms that was wearing heavy silver full plate. The two lower hands held large rectangular shields while the upper two hands held long spears. These were the last of his defensive golems. The rest of them were guarding the relic.

With a quick flood of orders, he set the golems to guard the most important four nodes in the enchantment. Hopefully, they would be able to deflect stray energy that came their way while he dealt with the rest.

After that, his hands flashed as he wove a web of stabilizing astral energy and spread it across the area like a silver net. Faint lines of a rune structure to absorb loose energy floated in the air, wrapping around the enchantment’s structure. He’d used smaller versions of this to protect scrolls he set aside before they were done and sometimes for artifacts that were half complete in his forge, but it was the first time he’d tried it on such a large scale.

Hopefully, it would hold.

There was no time to do more, so he leapt into the air and strode to the north. Behind him, the Ice Drake curved around to follow. By the time he reached the edge of the vineyard where his enchantment work ended, the force was approaching.

Three dozen figures quickly came into sight, their bodies covered in gleaming golden mail and ornate red robes. Crests of horsehair decorated the helmets of some of them and streamed backward in the wind, while others had their hair uncovered and tied back at the temples or in a braid.

There were a few more men than women, but the group was evenly divided between classes, with half melee fighters and the other half mages. Most of them had double combat classes, with the only exception being the leader.

Nemet Anuro. Hurricane Mage-King’s Emissary. Nobleman. Title: Count of Aethra. Level 399.

He was a King’s Emissary, which was a type of ambassador subclass. It probably came with Charisma-based abilities and magical treaties, quick travel, or messaging spells, perhaps even ones that could reach the king directly. It meant he had a high position in the kingdom and was well-trusted. Even from here, it looked like the man’s nose was in the air.

All told, it meant they’d come to give him a headache. The drawn blades and active spells were also a clue. Their expressions were wary as they saw Sam ahead of them and began to slow down. Sam stood at the edge of the enchantment with his arms folded, his height at an easy seven feet as he debated if he could salvage the situation without fighting.

It would be best if they just turned around and left, since he didn’t want anyone bothering his enchantment or the gate. The count’s expression didn’t make that promising, however, especially when the fellow saw the giant slab that Sleset had made with “Domain of the Silver Lord” engraved on it. His sharp eyes thinned as he came to a stop in front of Sam.

The rest of the people took up a guard position behind the emissary as they prepared their abilities. Mana barriers grew thicker and shields rose. Spears pointed forward as they glinted in the sun.

“Rogue spirit,” the count declared pompously, “your presence here is a violation of the kingdom’s sovereignty. Your interference with the king’s affairs is well known and your crimes against His Highness have been recorded previously. The destruction of the king’s army near Highfold was your doing. For that, you have been declared an Outlaw of Aethra and are subject to the king’s punishment. You are hereby ordered to surrender yourself and await the royal judgment!”

The group behind him spread out as they created a half-circle cordon of the area, apparently planning to prevent Sam from escaping. There was also a slight shift of energy as the emissary tried to engage a title change for Sam and mark him as an Outlaw, but as soon as he tried, his face paled and he fell two dozen feet in the air. A hum of displeasure vibrated through the area as the World Core turned its attention toward him.

Nonetheless, the emissary recovered after a moment and dusted off his clothes as he ignored the effect. He rose back up to his previous position as he looked at Sleset’s monument and then back at Sam.

“The kingdom has never allowed powerful forces to rebel within its borders,” the emissary continued as he tried to take control of the situation again, “and now it looks like you are trying to seize the king’s territory for yourself. Your crimes continue to grow by the day.”

“Does your king have no idea what is actually going on here?” Sam asked as he raised an eyebrow. “This area is under dire threat of invasion from Outsiders, which I am dealing with. By interfering with me, you’re acting against the World Law’s interest. Your king does not have that level of authority.”

In another circumstance, it would have been amusing to toss this count into orbit where he could study the size of the kingdom and get some perspective on his life, but at the moment, the enchantment here was too fragile to risk a fight. He had to keep the bigger picture in mind.

He didn’t mention the gate below them, since he didn’t want to give the man any ideas. To some people, Flaws were valuable for the experience and monster parts. This emissary looked like the type that would only become more interested if he knew what was really here, and then things would escalate.

There was no way he was going to risk letting the king mess around with this area, whether it was his kingdom or not. Sam might have been born in this kingdom, but the king had done nothing to help his old village. After the attempt to seize the sylphs’ valley, he’d lost all patience with him.

“Turn around and go home,” he said simply as he pointed back toward the capital. “I have no desire to disturb the kingdom, nor to fight with your army. I am here to help, but I will not allow interference. The matter at Highfold was the king’s mistake in threatening the ancient home of the Ice Sylphs, and it is already concluded. The only thing you will find by crossing me is a new trait that marks you as Defiant.”

With a flicker of will, he let his aura radiate outward toward them. Even with the most basic Analyze skill, they would be able to see him as the Lord of Silver Stars-Guardian of Aster Fall, and his title as High Artificer of Aster Fall. If the emissary wanted to make this about authority and titles, he would drown them in them.

“Your king’s authority does not surpass the World Law’s, nor mine,” he added sternly. “You have no business here.” He far outstripped the king in authority, and the source of his titles was much more important.

He’d considered for a moment whether it was better to cooperate and play along with the idea that this was the king’s territory, but he knew how that would go. This emissary wouldn’t rest until he’d discovered what was going on with the gate and arrested him.

“What Lord of Stars? What Guardian?! Who are you to disregard the king’s authority!” Sure enough, the emissary became angry as he saw Sam dismissing him. “You are only some type of rogue World Spirit with a few names to call your own. This is the king’s land! You dare to refuse his lawful order and to rebel against his command?!”

“Enough,” Sam interrupted with a flare of astral energy that covered the area. His word cut through the emissary’s shout as he tried to hold onto his patience. “You will not like how this ends if you continue to interfere. You are not allowed to enter this area until my work here is finished.”

He put the weight of his Charisma and authority behind his words, but the emissary didn’t waver. It seemed like the reminder of the World Law and the deeper principles at work was going to fall flat. While the church praised the World Law and saw it as the highest authority, not everyone agreed.

The emissary was one of those who believed in political power rather than reality. Sam watched the man’s expression change, turning more red by the moment as his knuckles turned white. He was glaring at Sam like he’d stolen his wife, clearly working himself up.

“You are blocking the king’s forces from his own land?” the emissary growled as he drew a thin wand from his belt and pointed it at Sam. A twisting hurricane of water and force appeared around him, wrapping around his shoulders and whipping outward. Despite the man’s snide behavior, it was a powerful spell that showed off the strength of his class.

“You dare to attack the Silver Lord?!” Sleset’s enraged shout came down from the Ice Drake above as the ship’s enchantments flared to life with brilliant, icy blue haloes. The nagas on the ship poured their mana into the offensive spells, augmenting the ship beyond what any of them could do individually. “Even carrion birds understand gratitude, but you do not!”

“Death to all who oppose the king!” the emissary roared as he ignored the nagas’ words. He only glanced upward before he sent the hurricane spiraling toward Sam. “Kill him!”

“For Aethra!” and a series of other shouts rang out from the three dozen elites with the emissary as spells flared into the air. There was no hesitation in their action, showing that they either feared Sam enough to want to kill him or they’d completely bought into the emissary’s point of view.

Spears and blades shot forward, some of them expanding to a massive size as they approached, making it look like they were covering the clouds.

Eleven of the elites were at Level 399 and their attacks were more powerful than the rest, their abilities clearly boosted by one of the strange techniques the Boundless Alliance had developed. It placed them around Level 405. All of their attacks together created an immense mana storm that built in the air like a tidal wave.

The rest of the king’s forces weren’t as strong as the 399s, but they were still elites and they poured their effort into the attack. A storm of magical bolts, waves of flame, meteors falling from the sky, stone spears rising up like spikes, and a wave of more subtle magics for curses and crippling spells surged toward Sam.

It was a huge amount of energy, something that would have taken Sam’s full attention to block even in normal circumstances, but right now, he was much more concerned about the enchantment around him. The approaching spells would tear it apart and then the unstable runic lines would rupture. He wasn’t sure what the effect would be, especially with the gate below. He couldn’t let this attack land. He swore as he unleashed his defenses.

The Armor of Ethereal Frost expanded in a web of shining silver runes that shone from his clothing and the bands on his biceps. This time, instead of just creating a defensive shield, he focused on its enchantment for Astral Deflection and sent it forward in a wave that was just as large as the attacks heading toward him.

A silver shield three hundred feet across swept forward, crashing into the blades and spells. When they met, the shield continued forward as the spells shattered against it. It swept up all the various energies and sent them flying away at wild angles, sometimes faster than they’d come.

It didn’t stop there. It continued forward and swept up the king’s emissary and the rest of the elites and hurled them backward like stones in a slingshot, throwing them toward the horizon. With over two million essence stored in the artifacts that supported Sam’s armor, there was no doubt about which side was stronger.

Within an instant, the sky was clear again. The king’s forces had been hurled miles away.

At the same time, however, the enchantment lines closest to Sam wobbled from the pressure as a few of the runes began to float out of alignment. He hurriedly turned toward them and sent a wave of stabilizing energy as he pushed them back into place.

At the same time, he heard the World Core’s voice echoing in his mind, asking if he wanted to mark the attacker as Defiant.
“Go ahead,” he confirmed. “I’m not sure why the king’s forces are so troublesome. Perhaps it will convince them to stop.” Instantly, he felt a flare of the World Core’s energy in the distance as the various targets were marked.

Above, the Ice Drake hummed as it flew forward to chase the enemy. The nagas hadn’t gotten to fight anyone, so they were planning to do it now.

“Sleset, stop there,” Sam sent as held them back. Three dozen was too many for the nagas to face alone. Even with the ship’s defenses and the attribute boost from being in his aura, they were badly outnumbered. “Just guard the area and keep them from approaching. I’m sure this won’t be enough to discourage them, but I’m not out to kill them, no matter how much trouble they are. I’ve already damaged the kingdom’s defenses enough. They’ll be needed when more Flaws appear.”

Unfortunately, his goodwill was doomed not to be returned.

A minute later, he sensed the king’s forces flying back toward him. This time, they were surrounded by a more intense aura of artifacts. He shook his head as he watched them return. It looked like they’d decided to go all out.

Why was it that every useless king surrounded himself with sycophants who did nothing but praise him? There wasn’t a single intelligent one in the bunch. If there had been, they’d be helping him and not supporting the kingdom. It looked like the kingdom was much worse off than he’d thought. Perhaps this was why the Bloodline Clans kept to themselves most of the time, so as to avoid the king.

The Armor of Ethereal Frost shimmered with drifting silver runes and trails of foggy ice as it covered Sam’s body. His essence pool was half full, since he’d been pouring it into the enchantment, but the armor had plenty of stored essence to use. With a wave of his hand, he drew on it and a line of astral energy cut along the field, creating an enormous defensive barrier of sparkling silver ice along the border of the enchantment. Then he folded his arms and waited.

The emissary and the elites behind him arrived a moment later, once again floating in the air.

“Your attack against the king’s forces mark you as a terror to the kingdom,” the emissary announced with thin eyes as he studied Sam. Mana around him once again tried to reach out and mark Sam with a title, but it shattered on Sam’s defensive wall. This time it was some personal ability rather than an attempt to call on the World Core. It looked like he’d learned his lesson there, but the emissary didn’t let that stop him.

“A rogue being of your strength is not allowed within this kingdom without the king’s authority,” the emissary continued as a vicious smile appeared on his narrow features. “The king’s new allies are right. You are a deadly threat that needs to be eradicated. It’s good that they alerted us to your presence here. Since you have attacked us, I am authorized to use one of the kingdom’s strongest defensive treasures to eradicate you.”
The nobleman reached into a spatial pouch and pulled out a large bone shield. It expanded as the spatial magics fell away from it, revealing a ridged and angular surface with yellow striations. The base for the shield had clearly come from some monster, and it looked like part of a connecting bone was still attached at the base, creating a point where the shield ended. All across the surface, there was a jagged, spidery swirl of black runes that moved slowly on their own.

Sam’s expression hardened as he identified the artifact’s origin. It was another of the Outsider artifacts that kept appearing in the kingdom. To see it here in the emissary’s hands and to hear it called one of the kingdom’s defensive treasures meant that the use of these artifacts was even beyond what he had thought.

If the kingdom officials were using these items, it was a clearer indication than ever that the king was part of the Boundless Alliance, and perhaps even part of the Cabal. That didn’t bode well for the power structure of the kingdom. It seemed everyone was grasping for power in dangerous places.

Without saying anything else, the emissary looked to the group around him. As one, all three dozen of the Third Evolution elites moved into key positions around him, creating a formation. Then they began channeling their mana into the shield. Instantly, a violent and unruly energy surrounded the artifact, covering the surface with a dull grey light as a torrent of force began to gather.

He wasn’t sure what the artifact was designed to do. He didn’t recognize most of the runes on the surface. The only ones that stood out were for force projection and unifying essence flows. The rest of the runes morphed into liquid black spikes and thorns, shifting as the mana filled them.

The king’s men didn’t have essence, but he could feel a chaotic mixture of auras in the shield. It told him they’d sacrificed a lot of monster cores and filled it with aura fragments. It was a common method to charge artifacts, so it was no surprise seeing it even at this level. It would have taken a high Third Evolution enchanter to stabilize an artifact like this, and those were difficult to find, if one would have even touched such a dangerous item.

There was also a faint tinge of blood and essence, suggesting that the shield had been used in battle against Outsiders before, and had perhaps even absorbed some of the energy from them. Part of its enchantment was probably to drain energy from those it killed. There weren’t a lot of artifacts that could absorb so many different sources of energy, but Outsider ones seemed to enjoy it, or at least it didn’t hinder their performance too much.

Moment by moment, the energy the shield was releasing became stronger, until it passed the middle tier of the Fourth Evolution and continued to rise. Sam glanced at his defensive line and checked on the stability of the enchantment behind him, and then he shook his head.

It would have been best to use Aura Shatter on the Outsider artifact, but the amount of mana infused into the shield would erupt in an uncontrolled wave if he did that. It would threaten his work, even with the defensive shield. He’d have to deflect it and then act.

It was easier to defend against a single blow than a wild storm.

“Let me show you why even World Spirits don’t dare to step out of line in Aethra!” the emissary shouted as he raised the shield into the air. “You won’t be the first one who has learned what it means to cross the king!”

The dark grey energy from the shield shot upward in a massive beam that rose to the sky. As it reached its zenith, it was nearly on a level with the clouds. It hung there like a dull iron spear, and then, strangely, instead of shooting down toward Sam, a wave of energy shot away from it , heading toward the capital.

After a moment, there was a dull drumbeat of response, like an echo that could be heard from that direction. It was deep and pervasive, continuing long past when it should have stopped. Sam frowned as a warning premonition flared across his spine. He looked after the wave of energy, studying the effect.

Then a string of curses spilled from his lips. A massive pulse of energy was returning to the area, far more than than the shield had released. It was at least ten times stronger.

“Sleset, move!” he shouted up at the ship.

Without hesitating, he infused more essence into his defensive shield and spread it out as much as possible to stabilize the area. Icy silver runes from his armor poured outward in a torrent, like a rushing river of frozen, crystalline stars. His hands wove runes that he fused with Astral Shield and threw upward to create a breakwall in the sky, and scrolls poured out of his cloak, igniting into webs of magic in the air as one layer after another of defensive spells appeared.

Before he could finish protecting the area, the attack arrived. The dull grey lance of energy was in the sky like a beacon. As the new energy from the capital reached it, it became more solid and dark Outsider runes shone along its length. The spidery black symbols swarmed along the grey expanse, swiftly covering it in a dark network like a tattoo from the underworld.

He hadn’t expected it, but it seemed like the kingdom still had its secrets and it was willing to use them to maintain its power. The strength of the artifact soared, nearly reaching the peak of the Fourth Evolution. It lacked the depth of concept that should have been there to make it elegant, but it had more than enough brute force.

The spear glittered as it sucked in all the energy and shrank, condensing from hundreds of feet to just a twenty-foot long mottled grey expanse with a five-foot blade of pure black energy at the point. Then it spun around as it locked onto Sam and shot downward.

For the first time since returning to Aster Fall, he felt a dire threat approaching. Waves of power radiated from the spear and the Outsider enchantment on it felt like it was shredding the sky. The artifact was strong enough to kill him if it landed, and this time, he didn’t have to just protect himself, but the entire enchantment behind him.

His hands curled as his height expanded back to 150 feet and he unleashed the full strength of his armor. All of the remaining 2,100,000 points of essence flowed into the shield around the area, while his body burned like a sun. Silver stars appeared in the air all around him like a vast galaxy as the astral shield flared with essence.

A golden astral spear appeared in his hand as his muscles clenched, and he stabbed it upward to meet the descending attack. The full power of his level and his attributes at the Second Star were behind the blow.

The two weapons met in grey and gold collision like lightning strikes colliding, releasing a blast of energy that exploded outward like a god’s hammer crashing down. The sky above the valley cracked open in a jagged line and tore back, revealing a chaotic storm of elements and dimensional space that was filled with distorted geometric lines of energy bending in on themselves in strange shapes that twisted the mind to follow them.

The golden spear slammed into the grey one, blocking it from descending with a crashing torrent of power, but the impact of the energy wasn’t as easy to dissipate. It rolled outward like a moon crashing to the earth as it struck the Astral Shield and Armor of Ethereal Frost that was covering the area. The shields warped, bending inward as they absorbed the energy across the full expanse of three miles. They thinned in spots and fractures began to appear where the energy was breaking through.

They teetered at the limit...but then they held.

At the same time, the two spears were locked into place against one another, each of them surrounded by a crackling energy. The grey spear twisted like a living thing as it tried to continue on its path toward Sam. He growled as he held it back and then he reached out with his free hand, a blade of pure aura shining from it to cut the artifact apart.

At that moment, however, the king’s men let out a shout and poured more mana toward the shield they were holding. Three dozen flows of mana poured into the artifact and a new beam of grey light shot toward the spear. Suddenly, the spear bucked, twisting away under the command of the emissary.

This time, instead of descending toward Sam, it shot down at an angle in a flicker of grey light, descending toward the shield to his right where a gap had formed. Before Sam could stop it, it burst through the opening and fell, heading toward the enchantment.

It wasn’t clear if the emissary intended it or even knew what he was doing, but Sam’s eyes widened as he saw it. With a flick of his spear, Sam chased after the Outsider weapon away, but he was only quick enough to slice through the end with a blade of Shatter Aura.

The spear fell like a meteor, striking the enchantment almost directly over the Passion Gate. It broke through the fragile enchantment lines in a crackle of silver essence and drove down through the field, tearing apart the bedrock as it descended out of sight toward the gate. A moment later, an enormous, dull thump echoed across the area. Shards of brittle sounds like cracking glass followed it.

Then an explosion of grey and black energy fountained out of the hole that the spear had made, tearing back upward as the spear flew out again. The spear didn't look the same as before, however, as strands of orange essence wove around it.

In the air, the grey spear splintered into pieces as it broke apart. Each of them flew in a different direction, some toward the emissary and others across the area Sam was guarding. Several of them crashed into the shield he was working on, landing with heavy explosions as they released the wild energy. The blasts rocked the shield again, making the earth shudder, and the fragments shot back toward the earth like descending ballista bolts, tearing into the fragile enchantment lines that stretched in every direction.

A sudden stillness passed across the field as Sam felt something below him shift, and he looked down at the enchantment he was protecting, his gaze drawn to one of the key nodes where a fragment had just landed. A handful of broken runes were releasing threads of loose essence into the spell structure around them. One by one, the runes turned brighter as the energy in them surged outward, pouring into the runes that they were linked to.

That wasn’t the only spot.

Dozens of places across the field suddenly burst to life with crackles of silver essence as the enchantment began to collapse, all of the stored energy in it pouring outward as new explosions began to appear, each of them a strike of thunder that rolled through the air. Sam’s eyes widened as he looked across the field.

Then, from dozens of locations across the area, some of them from seemingly undamaged ground, streams of orange essence began to pour upward, hissing like furious serpents. An enormous force of energy shifted below him like a roiling volcano as more essence joined the rest, erupting in every direction as giant cracks tore apart the field.

The hills began to sink as an earthquake rolled across the vineyard.