Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 65 (Patreon)

"Last chance to run..." The scarred Amazonian sneered as she drew her sword.

"Nah, fuck that. The Elder will have less trouble taking this place over if they're dead," one of her companions said. She unslung a bow from her back and knocked an arrow.

The third hefted her spear, remaining silent but just as ready as the others to engage in deadly combat.

Amazonian Warrior (Level 61)

Amazonian Archer (Level 59)

Amazonian Spearwoman (Level 60)

As I sized them up, I felt them doing the same to me. Each of them were four to six levels above my own, but I had been taking on people higher than my own level for a while now. I spared a glance for Bridget and Sakura. This would be a real test of their skills. The two of them would be at a stark level disadvantage, but that didn't dissuade either of them in the slightest.

Off to either side of me, Bridget and Sakura prepared themselves. The two of them had come a long way since we'd fought the Wolfmen, and thanks to the many new skill books we'd all acquired, along with daily practice sessions, their abilities were night and day from what they'd been before.

Crimson light flashed from Sakura's horn and all three Amazonians prepared for her attack. But it was Bridget who struck first. I wasn't sure what she did, but one moment she was by my side, and the next she’d lashed out with a dagger at the archer.

The archer flinched, still drawing back an arrow to shoot Sakura. The archer turned, twisting to point her bow at Bridget, instead—but that was exactly what Bridget wanted.

She lashed out with a quick, darting strike—not at the archer, but at her taut bowstring. With a single flick, the bowstring snapped in the archer's hand. She fumbled her arrow as the severed string slapped her across the cheek. Just as quick as she’d appeared, Bridget was out of reach, having ducked back behind me.

The attack Sakura had been preparing was finally ready. She lunged forward, club raised high overhead in a strike that made no attempt to hide how devastating it would be if it connected. Crimson energy swirled around her as she allowed the full might of her barbarian rage to take her.

"Hyaaa!" Sakura screamed.

The three Amazonians jumped clear of the obvious strike, as Sakura's club slammed into the ground. Though the Amazonians weren't struck by the blow, the force with which it struck the ground was enough to knock all three of them off their feet.

I knew a moment to strike when I saw one. The moment I saw the Amazonians, I knew things would likely come to a confrontation. And now, I knew that confrontation would be a lethal one.

Holding out my hand, I cast my new spell—Soulchain Nexus. The spell sprang from my outstretched hand like shadowy black chains. Those chains wrapped around the scar-faced Amazonian, then the archer, and then the spearwoman. Finally, a long black chain larger than all the others shot back to me.

All the three Amazonians groaned, and I felt an agonizing ache deep in my core. It was like someone had tugged at my intestines. When the uncomfortable feeling faded, it was replaced with a sense of hunger. My spell couldn't wait to take the power of these warriors of Elder Thalassa possessed and make it my own.

With Soulchain Nexus established, I waved my other arm forward and launched the wave of Mana Bolts that circled a dozen feet above my head. I'd started conjuring them on the way to the city and had been adding to their number ever since. There seemed to be an upper limit on the number of Mana Bolts I could hold onto with Mana Barrage, but that upper limit depended on my mana regeneration—probably because it took a tiny bit of energy to maintain each Mana Bolt.

My upper limit for Mana Bolts had been pretty high before. But with Doom Seeker offsetting the mana cost both for each bolt’s creation and its maintenance, that number was now over four dozen. When I flung my hand forward, fifty Mana Bolts flew forward all at once. I didn't bother targeting vitals this time. With so many bolts flying at one target, all her vitals were sure to be saturated, anyway.

I targeted the scar-faced Amazonian, since she’d acted like the leader of the group. Her eyes widened when she saw all the spells heading her way, but after being knocked flat by Sakura's attack she lacked the agility to scramble to safety.

Mana Bolt after Mana Bolt struck her, each different from the last. This was a true test of Doom Seeker's ability to draw out mana for my spells. Bolts of lightning mixed with molten magma and spikes of ice. To anyone looking, it probably looked like I'd used a dozen different spells instead of just the one.

The woman didn't even have time to scream before they struck her, all at once. Blood sprayed in all directions, and when the other two Amazonians clambered back to their feet, she stayed where she'd fallen on the ground.

Your race, Homo Acceleratus, has gained a level!

I felt a sudden rush of energy as her levels filled me. Some of that intense and gnawing hunger that casting Soulchain Nexus had brought faded. I felt measurably stronger, faster, and smarter—but most importantly, I was hungry for more.

The other two Amazonians groaned, blood leaking from their ears and the corners of their mouths. I could feel a host of corrupting marks on them, though I hadn't cast a thing on either of them. Any Corrupting Marks that were on them had been passed along by the shadowy chains of my Nexus.

The two of them stood anyway, neither seemed ready to give up. They ignored the chains wrapping around them tighter by the moment, though I didn't think anyone besides myself could even seen them.

"You should have listened," Bridget hissed.

She darted forward toward the spearwoman, getting in close so that her daggers would be more useful than her enemy's spear. It was a trick Cyra had taught her during their many training sessions. Bridget was clearly outmatched in terms of brute strength, though.

The Amazonian spearwoman twisted her spear so the haft was in Bridget's face and shoved. Bridget ducked below the attack and was out of the way before the spear’s blade flashed back around. When my blonde companion came up, I noticed that she only had one dagger.

The other was stuck in the gap where the Amazonian's leather vest met her leather skirt.

The spear woman grimaced as she tugged the dagger from her bowels, then staggered a moment and leaned on her spear. She had an assessing look in her eyes. She'd dismissed Bridget as a viable threat, before. But certainly not now.

Meanwhile, Sakura was busy fending off her own opponent. The archer's level was well above her own, but I wouldn't have been able to tell that from what I saw before me. Sakura attacked with relentless and overwhelming ferocity, swinging her club left and right in a ruthless offense that left the archer no time to retaliate. She kept reaching for the sword at her hip, but every time she took a hand off of her broken bow, Sakura lashed out with another attack.

The archer tried to put distance between herself and the Oni berserker, but Sakura kept charging in and swinging her club. Though she wielded a club, the way it cracked through the air made it sound like a whip. A single mistake on the archer's part and this fight would turn decisively in Sakura's favor.

With both my companions having proved to their enemies they weren't to be underestimated, I figured I'd add my two cents’ worth, tilting the scales a little further in our favor. I detonated my Corrupting Marks.

Both Amazonians cried out, and I was surprised to see just how many Corrupting Marks had made it onto them from the one I’d already slain. Soulchain Nexus essentially made it so that I could layer on Corrupting Marks exponentially faster than before, thanks to their ability to spread.

Sakura prepared another one of her obvious but overwhelming strikes, but this time the Amazonian archer couldn't dodge. She swung her club down, eventually cracking the cobblestones and sending up a fine red mist in all directions. When the dust settled, what was left wasn't even recognizable as a body.

The spear woman was a little faster to recover, and she was giving Bridget a tougher run. She shoved Bridget off her feet with a kick, then readied her spear high overhead, obviously planning to ram it through Bridget a moment later.

I shot her with an Eldritch Blast in the back of the head before that happened, causing the woman to stumble forward in a daze. That bought Bridget all the time she needed to scramble back to her feet. By then, Sakura was on top of the spear woman, and before long the two against one fight concluded in their favor.

Your race, Homo Acceleratus, has gained a level!

"Well done!" I cheered.

Bridget shook herself. "Sorry. I was almost too slow. It's just... fighting people is a bit different than fighting monsters."

Sakura placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Sakura had been by my side when we’d fought bandits and outlaws, so she'd killed her fair share of people. Bridget had done so a few times, but never quite as brutally as this.

"You did good. Her level was much higher than yours. If you were level 60, you would have cut her to pieces," Sakura said.

I reached down and picked up the length of chain the scar-faced Amazonian had been carrying. It was still attached to the manacles on the wrists of a half dozen residents of Shadefall.

"I'm surprised you didn't run," I told them.

"W-what are you going to do with us?" a rather nervous, blue-skinned woman asked.

I was surprised to see it was the same woman who I'd saved from being executed by Lark. She really had the worst luck.

"If you promise to keep this quiet,” I waved to the trio of dead Amazonians, “I can let you go."

The young woman nodded vigorously, as did all the others.

"Good. Now we're gathering everybody else up back this way. Follow me."

We led the freed prisoners to safety. I made sure to keep them buried deep within the rest of the survivors, somewhere they wouldn't be found—though they all gave me solemn promises that they wouldn’t say a word. I didn't want them spreading around the fact that we'd killed three of Elder Thalassa's warriors. I already didn't get along with the Elder, but there was no reason to throw more fuel onto that fire.

I was taking a bit of a risk as it was, but if things panned out well for me here, I would be that much closer to building something that would both impress Myrina's family and provide endless resources and wealth for Crownhill.

***

The next few days were relatively peaceful, besides the executions. The Samhain Clan didn't take kindly to rebels, and when they stormed the noble district they’d quickly sorted out who was a rebel and who wasn't.

Where they drew the line depended, from person to person. But the Shadefall Clan’s main family was doomed, as were most of their direct subordinates.

Many of the wealthy merchants and money managers were executed as well, especially those who’d been managing the workshops that had produced the modified monster cores that had given the Samhain Clan so much trouble. And this included the crafters who'd destroyed the Samhain Clan's stockpiles of magical weaponry before the war, thereby making the whole rebellion possible in the first place.

I watched the executions along with everybody else. They were conducted right in the middle of the city square before the Obelisk. I hadn't seen the Obelisk since my dungeon run, so I was surprised to find it had been snapped in two. The broken top of the Obelisk was nowhere to be seen.

I hadn't known they could be destroyed, but here it was.

"For betrayal of her oath by initiating an act of war against the Samhain Clan and its vassals, I sentence Lillia Shadefall to death. Lillia, if you have any last words, speak them now." Kyrina Samhain held a massive sword in one hand.

The former leader of the Shadefall Clan was on her knees in front of Kyrina. She was a small woman and, if not for the fine dress she wore, she’d look more like a shopkeeper than the powerful noble who'd engineered a rebellion.

"You're a fool, Kyrina," Lillia Samhain spat. "You pretend that the strength of your arms and your ability to swing your sword gives you the right to rule, but you're not very good at it. See how close you came to defeat the moment your ancestors didn't step in to save you? Best cherish what you have, Kyrina. Should you ever fall out of favor with them, you'd face rebellion from each and every one of your vassal clans. That is the real strength of the Samhain Clan—pretending to be warriors, when in truth you're far better at waggling your asses before the most powerful kings of the Arcadia Multiverse."

Kyrina scowled and shook her head. "Such a waste of your final words." She brought her sword around and cut off the rebel leader’s head.

There were about three dozen more executions after that. Considering most of the people leading the Shadefall rebellion had fought to the death, most of the city's upper crust was either dead or was due to die soon.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like the Samhain Clan had much of a plan for how to rebuild the city. Gutting the ruling class of the city as they were doing would likely lead to several years of turmoil as the people left in charge slowly restored law and order and rebuilt the many destroyed businesses from the ground up.

There was one shining light after the executions, though. That was when Kyrina started handing out rewards.

"To Carter, who aided in destroying the monster core workshops, I award four city blocks in the workshop district, along with all the workers therein! For his creation of the siege engines that enabled us to take the walls so quickly, I award him the sum of twelve chests of loot taken from the Shadefall Clan vaults." Kyrina waved her hand, and Amazonians carrying several chests overflowing with gold and treasure came up to me.

I was quite impressed, especially when I opened the first of the chests and saw the treasure included a number of skill books. Kyrina smiled at me when my eyes widened at the sight. I was pretty sure she'd somehow shifted the skill books into my reward.

"Myrina, my daughter, for your brave efforts behind enemy lines, I grant you this sword from the Shadefall Clan's collection of masterworks!" Kyrina handed her daughter a sheathed sword, which Myrina gripped with glowing eyes. "And for leading one of the two teams able to successfully take the walls, I grant you these three physical skill books to use or to trade as you see fit."

Another chest came forward for Myrina, and she eagerly dove into the books.

Kyrina handed out several more waves of rewards, though I was surprised to see that she’d skipped over Cyra. The reason for that soon became apparent, though, since Cyra received what was, no doubt, the most biggest but most troublesome prize of all.

"To Cyra, my daughter, who led both the attack behind enemy lines and was the first on the walls. You also slew no less than six of the Shadefall Clan's elite singlehanded when we stormed their palace. To you, I grant governorship of Shadefall. Rule over this city as you see fit!"

Cyra looked more surprised than anyone to be given the entire city to rule. There was quite a bit of cheering at the announcement from the warriors, though. Cyra was quite popular among them—especially those who'd followed her into battle.

Cyra pointed at herself in surprise, blinking in confusion as her mother nodded.

Myrina was faster to react. "Yeah! You go, Sis! Just make sure you don't sell the city off too cheaply!"

Others shared a laugh, but it wasn't one of incredulity. If Cyra really did decide to simply sell the entire city off to the highest bidder, it seemed nobody would be surprised.

"Well, daughter, I hope you'll let the rest of us stay in your palace for these next few nights while we feast and celebrate our victory. But after that, the place is yours!" Kyrina stroked her daughter's head affectionately.

"Uh... I'm... I'm honored, mother. And I'll take good care of the city." She looked around herself with a nervous gaze. Apparently the thought of ruling the conquered city scared her more than the thought of storming its walls. She hadn't looked half as scared before or in battle as she did now.

Maybe I could lend her a hand as a fellow owner of a city. That would accelerate my plans a bit faster than I’d initially planned.