Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 49 (Patreon)

That initial howl must have been a howl of agony and fright because Sakura reported back at the shelter not long after.

“The Mana Bombs work!” She flashed me a vicious smile that spread from ear to ear. “Got a whole level from it. I bet most of the guys here would jump all the way to level fifteen from one lucky throw!”

I returned her exuberant look. “Excellent. Tell everyone on the walls to make the most of them. I take it they’re coming our way?”

Sakura nodded. “Just the feral ones for now. The smart ones are staying grouped up.”

And just like that, our enemies had handed us an opportunity. If I could secure a few early levels for the people guarding the shelter now, they’d be that much more likely to survive when the real foes arrived.

“Excellent. I want you, Marcus, and Frank to hang back at first. Help only when needed. There are plenty of people who need those levels. Oh, but do tell them to join my party. I have access to something new that I’m interested in trying. It’s called the Ultimate System.”

“Ooh...” Sakura smiled. “What does it do?”

I shrugged. “We’ll have to figure that out together.”

The first few minutes of fighting came with hasty shouts and sporadic bouts of activity. A lone Chaosborn Lycan would stumble across our shelter, mouth slavering and fangs full of ill intent.

The influence of the Chaos Wolf had done us some favors in the end. Though it made the Wolfmen more powerful than before, it took away the spark of intelligence they’d each been nurturing, and even those who’d formerly been somewhat intelligent had been reduced back to animal savagery.

I didn’t hear so much as a word spoken from any of them. Even those who still had stone tools strapped to their chests or waists.

I thought I was holding off strictly for strategic benefit, but I was surprised to be making good progress on my race evolution quest as well. One by one, my proficiencies were ticking upward.

Your leadership proficiency has increased to level 19!

Your leadership proficiency has increased to level 20!

One proficiency had hit the required threshold. I needed to get eight over that hump before the night was through.

Sounds of battle echoed all around, a wild mix of roars and shouts. Gunfire and clashing weapons rang through the night air, mixed with the terrifying growls of stray Chaosborn Lycans and the brave men and women who took to the barricades to fight them.

I could sense the flow of battle in each angry snarl, each yelp of pain, and each cheer of victory. But the steady thump of hammer on the metal of the blacksmith next to me as I crafted more Mana Bombs for the defenders was my own personal rhythm as I worked. Sakura had come by a dozen times to collect more Mana Bombs.

You’ve unlocked the Focus proficiency!

“They’re working!” Sakura said when I asked her for an update. “Three people just reached level ten and are pulling back to select their classes. Those who were at ten before this are closer to fifteen now. Each bomb blasts through the enemy! Even a level five can kill a level fifteen Lycan if they get a direct hit in.”

A smile touched my lips, though it didn’t slow my fingers as I worked. “Good. Keep up the good work, all of you.”

You have gained the Strategic Planning proficiency!

You have gained the Battlefield Awareness proficiency!

You have gained the Logistic Management proficiency!

Proficiencies continued to roll in, both new and old. I wouldn’t have guessed it was possible to earn so many new abilities sitting on the sidelines as I was, but perhaps the System thought the burden resting on my shoulders was valuable enough to be worth rewarding.

The howls of the Lycans were getting louder and more frequent. The worst was still ahead, and more of them were coming. I just hoped enough people had put on levels for us to be ready.

As the howls grew louder and the battle raged on, use of the Mana Bombs increased until I was only barely keeping pace — and rapidly running out of materials. While there was plenty of scrap metal, only so many people had thought to collect the monster cores.

Congratulations! Your Artificer job has reached level 8!

Until now, nobody had a use for them, so their price in the Obelisk had been driven into worthlessness. I suspected I’d just changed things a lot with my many purchases on behalf of the shelter, though as the settlement owner, I had plenty to spend.

Eventually, I used the last monster core and assembled the last Mana Bomb core. The rest would be up to the blacksmith and his assistants assembled to help me.

“Finish what you can. I have to help the people on the walls,” I said to my assistants.

I arrived at the walls to find them in chaos.

With urgency pushing me forward, I darted toward the makeshift barricades. An assortment of thrown-together furniture, scrap metal, and whatever else was at hand served as our crude defense line.

This haphazard barrier wasn’t much, but it gave our defenders a platform to stand on, forcing the terrifying Chaosborn Lycans to claw their way up if they wished to attack. While they were engaged in their climb, in that moment of exposure, they became easy targets for a rain of bullets, the devastating impact of Mana Bombs, or even the eager thrusts of the improvised spears wielded by our bravest fighters.

Surveying the scene, my eyes took in the ragtag force defending the shelter. Their armor was an eclectic patchwork of scavenged gear, and their weapons were as varied as they were. Many of them had grown proficient with the first weapon they’d managed to get their hands on in the midst of their initial encounters with the enemy. The rush of leveling up and the changing dynamics of the battlefield had shaped their choices in a way born of desperate need rather than any careful planning.

The level difference between the Chaosborn Lycans and our defenders was substantial enough that a single lucky strike could yield enough experience points to entirely alter someone’s skill set.

Beneath this sudden surge of power, I saw a lot of clumsy movements and awkward footing. Oversized thrusts, stumbles. It reminded me of teenagers going through a growth spurt, not yet accustomed to their lengthened limbs and newfound strength.

As I stood there, observing the chaos, a bearded man caught my eye. Hefting a Mana Bomb, he hurled it with surprising accuracy straight into the yawning maw of an oncoming Chaosborn Lycan.

“Eat this, you mangy mutt!” he roared defiantly, his voice echoing above the din of the battle.

The Mana Bomb detonated with a thunderous ‘BOOM,’ lighting up the immediate area with an otherworldly glow.

While it didn’t manage to slay the Lycan, it did send several of the trailing Shadows of the Chaos Wolf into oblivion. The blast left the Lycan dazed enough for the bearded man to seize his opportunity.

With a primal yell, he brought his axe down on the creature’s head, splitting its skull in one powerful swing.

The battle ramped up along the barricades, and this time, I was right there in the thick of it, casting Mana Bolts and Eldritch Blasts. Only a few could match my range, and aside from Michael, none could come close to the magic damage I could dish out. Any spot I defended quickly became the sturdiest.

Then a message flashed before me.

Congratulations! Your Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge class has leveled up to 25.

Further leveling will be paused until you reach D-Rank.

As I had guessed, my class couldn’t progress any further until I finished my racial evolution quest. I was slowly but steadily working on it. I still needed to build up more proficiencies to move up to D-Rank, but they were coming in.

Your Caster proficiency has reached level 24!

Your Neutral Mana proficiency has reached level 22!

Your Rifle proficiency has reached level 4!

If this was the best the Chaosborn Lycans could do, I was on track to meet my goals. By the break of dawn, we’d have a few injuries but a lot of valuable experience gained. But as the howls from the distance grew louder, I had a sinking feeling that the worst was yet to come.

The source of those howls arrived minutes later. An eerie silence fell over the battlefield at their approach, the howls from the other lycans now seeming muted. Replacing them were low, guttural growls that echoed ominously from the shadows.

I spotted the first one with Examine, closing in on us from a distance. A Chaosborn Lycan elite. He was bigger than his kin, nearly the size of a car. The rumors that had been spreading through camp before the attack weren’t so far off after all.

His dark fur was thicker, his claws longer and sharper. His monstrous form exuded an aura of sinister, shadowy power, with Shadows of the Chaos Wolf dancing in and around his smoke-billowing form. Examine told me he was level twenty, meaning only a handful among the humans lining the walls were strong enough to face him head-on.

And it seemed he wasn’t the only one coming our way. These Lycans were smarter than the others, sticking close together in tightly packed groups. They were set to arrive in unison, and the predatory glint in their eyes told me they hadn’t lost all their intelligence. These Lycans knew something about teamwork.

But it was their command over the neighboring shadows that truly set them apart. Dark tendrils clung to them like darkness had taken form. They reminded me of the Shadows of the Chaos Wolf, and I suspected that destroying these shadows was what made my Mana Bombs so effective until now.

The first group struck at once, and I was fortunate to be guarding the wall they targeted. I had reassigned some of our defenders to other walls, and the Lycan elite had seen our lacking manpower as an opportunity. I was about to teach them that humans knew strategy too, and they were about to fall into my trap.

The three Chaosborn Lycans lunged at me all at once. I held my ground, my eyes trained on the monstrous forms. Just as they neared, I roared, “Throw the Mana Bombs!”

The low-level defenders, who had been hiding nearby, sprang into action. Mana Bombs rained down on the charging Lycans, each explosion sending shockwaves through the night. The Lycans reeled back, wounded and disoriented, but their beastly cunning told them to retreat.

Normally, they would have made a clean getaway. But I had proficiency levels to rack up.

In a flash, I was in their midst, a sword borrowed from the Blacksmith gripped tightly in my hand. With the power of my Eldritch Augmentation skill, I moved with ruthless speed. The blade cut through the air, then through fur and flesh. Each strike was precise and deadly, each swing of the sword bringing me one step closer to my goal.

Your sword proficiency has reached 6!

Your melee combat proficiency has reached 3!

Your dual-wielding proficiency has reached 5!

You have gained the Wolf Slayer proficiency!

You have gained the One Versus Many proficiency!

You have gained the Surprise Attack proficiency!

My wall was not the only one to experience a sudden ferocious attack from the growing tide of elite Chaosborn Lycans. The others had their own issues to deal with. Each wall had one of our own elite humans, Sakura, Frank, and Marcus, with Margaret and a few others in the high teens standing as backup in case someone was getting overwhelmed.

But I feared these odds might be too much, even for the teams we’d put together so far. While the others were strong, they weren’t quite on my level. Even Sakura was helpless against the shadows without Mana Bombs.

I looked toward the East wall, where Sakura was stationed. She fought with her club in hand. Guarding a wall wasn’t ideal for her, despite her level. She had no ranged attack and had to wait until the Lycans had scaled the wall, though once they’d done so, she battered them to pieces.

Only now, our enemies had devised a strategy to deal with her. They seemed to be sacrificing one of their number to her wrath to distract her. Meanwhile, three other Chaosborn Lycan Elite were scaling the wall with eyes on the Mana Bomb throwers who’d been supporting Sakura’s defensive efforts.

Even with the rage of an Oni Berserker coursing through her veins, Sakura didn’t miss their plan. But there was nothing she could do against the other Lycans. They were so far away and moving so quickly that not even I could get to their side using Warp Step.

But I shouldn’t have underestimated my companions so much.

Your party member Sakura has activated her ultimate, Might of the Colossus.

Suddenly, crimson light enveloped Sakura’s entire body, starting from her horn. Normally, I’d seen such light envelop her club and occasionally an arm or leg, as she was using one of her abilities. But I had never seen it cover her completely, nor seen it flash so brightly.

The light hardened and formed a figure in exactly Sakura’s shape, growing larger in a flash of sudden power. The figure grew and grew until she was as tall as our old four-story office complex had been, and in her hands, she held a club just like Sakura.

Sakura brought her club down, and the figure of light copied the motion. When the club struck the earth, the three Chaosborn Lycans who’d been hit were smashed into a paste.

The figure of light vanished as quickly as it had come, but now Sakura’s wall held firm.

Across from Sakura and on our right flank, I heard Frank’s wall coming under fire. These elite Lycans must have thought they could overwhelm our defenses if they attacked from all directions simultaneously. But he, too, had a trick up his sleeve that the Lycans couldn’t have predicted.

Your party member Frank has activated his ultimate, Curse of the Sloth.

Energy flashed from Frank, targeting three elite Lycans and four of the lower-level variety. Each foe struck grew hazy like I was looking at them through syrup. The focus in their eyes grew hazy and distant. Their movements slowed that even the classless E-Ranks were able to maintain their distance safely. Those at F-Rank above level ten could dodge and weave around their claw strikes like the Lycans were trapped in slow motion.

It seemed that Frank’s ultimate was an area of effect debuff, and while that would certainly be useful, it still meant someone had to kill the Lycans who’d been struck by it. I wasn’t sure how long Frank’s ability would last, but I worried it wouldn’t be long.

I took a step forward and was about to use Warp Step to help when another notification flashed before me.

Your party member Bridget has activated her ultimate, Dance of the Primal Hunter.

Bridget crouched low to the ground, two knives in her hands, sharp and held such that they almost looked like claws.

Wait a moment, Bridget? Wasn’t she wounded? Wasn’t she in bed with the other patients?

I checked my party list and found she was next to Sakura. She must have gotten better while I was working on the Mana Bombs. And then immediately decided to throw herself on the front lines. Just what had gotten into that girl?

Though fear gripped my heart, Bridget’s ultimate was a sight to behold. She moved so quickly it looked like an ability similar to Warp Step. First, she stood near Frank, then she was on top of the first elite Lycan, dragging her knife along his throat.

Then she vanished in a flash, only to reappear on another. Finally, she whisked herself across the battlefield in sudden bursts of lethal speed.

Her cuts were not deep, but they were fast, and as slow as the Chaosborn Lycans were, she made sure every one of them was lethal. The Lycans who weren’t already dead would bleed out soon enough as everyone took advantage of their battered and weakened state. Struck by the combination of two ultimate abilities, the elite Lycans had become nothing more than experience points for the humans defending the shelter.

The rear of the shelter was attacked too, but that side was furthest from me, and it was where we had concentrated as many of our own elite. Margaret, Michael, and Marcus all fought side by side. When three elite Lycans attacked, three elite humans rushed to meet them. With the support of the other humans, they looked like they would have a clean victory.

The Chaosborn Lycans grew reluctant to engage after seeing their allies thwarted on all other sides. For a moment, I hoped that the battle might be won then and there.

But another howl rang through the night, this one all too familiar. The Chaosborn Lycans weren’t retreating. They were regrouping.

Their leader had come. I was really starting to hate the Alpha Wolfman.

<Note>

Carter was improving some of his proficiencies this whole time while you guys weren't looking. You guys are just going to have to trust me on that, because I kinda haven't mentioned them for quite a few chapters. 😅