Chapter 384 - Steadfast (Patreon)

Zeke met the diving gargoyle with an uppercut from his hammer that shattered the lower part of its jaw and reversed its course. It went cartwheeling backward through the air, colliding with one of its fellows along the way. The two fell in a mass of tangled limbs and wings, but Zeke couldn’t afford the attention to track their descent. Instead, he was wholly occupied with the next gargoyle, which used the opening to tear into his earthen form with its wickedly sharp stone claws.

He roared, trying to dislodge it with a hasty elbow strike, but it held firm before attempting to lift him off the ground. Zeke didn’t even need to use his racial powers to increase his weight; the earth-attuned form of [Triune Colossus] weighed at least a ton, which meant that he wasn’t so easy to drag into the air.

As the gargoyle struggled, futilely flapping its wings while still connected to Zeke, Pudge crashed into it. Wreathed in black-and-red flame, the demonic dire bearkin tackled the gargoyle to the ground, then lashed out with his own claws. Over and over, he tore into the creature’s stone torso, and all the while, its agonized shrieks filled the air. But Pudge didn’t stop until, at last, he’d ripped enough of its rocky flesh away to expose its softer innards. He ripped into those, too, and soon enough, only a smoking carcass remained.

Meanwhile, Eta had sent deep vines snaking into the hard ground, so when another one of the gargoyles tried to carry her away, she remained steadfastly rooted in place. Thorns erupted from her bark-like skin, piercing the gargoyle’s stone skin with ease. When those thorns retracted, the creature sported a half-dozen oozing wounds, but it remained a deadly threat.

Fortunately, that was when Silik attacked via [Spear of Memories], which sent a lance of sizzling light to burn a hole into the wounded area. The monster’s rocky flesh melted under his skill, but it didn’t die. Not after the first, at least. And not after the second. Even after the third attack, the creature was still trying to rip Eta to pieces.

Jasper darted in, took a deep breath, and screamed with [Dissonance]. The weakened creature’s body crumbled under the weight of Jasper’s only directly-damaging skill.

But that was when the rest of the gargoyles arrived. There were dozens of them. Hundreds, probably. The number might have even reached into the thousands. Whatever the case, the group of combatants were shoved backward by the sheer weight of the monstrous living statues. To even the score, Zeke used [Colossal Legion], then [Weight of Two Worlds]. The creatures were slowed by his skill, but the effect wasn’t nearly as impactful as Zeke had hoped.

His summoned golems were far more effective. With enough ambient earth energy to refill their cores, the mobile statues attacked the gargoyles with stoic efficiency. Two were armed with their natural cudgels, but one had taken a giant, bronze axe from Zeke’s cellar. And with that massive weapon, it laid waste to the gargoyles. None of its blows held even a modicum of skill. Instead, it used the axe like a bludgeoning weapon. However, due to its size and the clear fact that it was enchanted, the golem had no issue batting the gargoyles to the ground where its fellows fell upon it with silent brutality.

Meanwhile, Zeke stood in front of his companions, a stoic edifice amidst a sea of threats. His feet planted firmly on the floor, he refused to give any more ground. He wasn’t just immovable. He was enduring and everlasting.

But even a mountain could eventually be worn down, and so the tide of gargoyles chipped away at him. Even as they battered him, ripping huge chunks from his earthen body, he returned the favor, knocking the gargoyles from the sky with ruthless efficiency.

Silik took a position to Zeke’s right, while the golems guarded his left flank. Meanwhile, Sasha, Eta, and Jasper remained to the rear, with their backs against the wall. Pudge was the only wildcard, constantly moving as he ripped through the gargoyles with claws and [Hellfire]. Every now and then, he was target one of the creatures with [Netherclaw], but only when he got bogged down or one of the gargoyles was out of reach.

Like that, the group fought. Jasper maintained his songs, energizing the group so they could continue the battle. Eta lashed out with roots and vines, while also summoning her healing flower to mend their wounds. And Sasha – she did nothing, though Zeke could hear her muttering an incantation that he hoped would result in a powerful spell.

On and on, they battled. Zeke lost track of time, and he had no notion of how many gargoyles he’d killed. Even if he’d bothered to keep count, it would have been useless because he rarely killed any of the monsters. Instead, he simply battered them aside, employing a strategy of attrition as he banked on his group’s ability to simply outlast the tide of gargoyles. Eventually, their efforts would win the battle.

Or that was what he hoped.

The reality of it was no sure thing. Still, he continued on, subtly altering his attack patterns to better suit his goals. Usually, Zeke employed an aggressive style that had him leaping at his opponents so he could fight the battle on his terms. But the earthen form of [Triune Colossus] wasn’t suited for that.  Instead, it was better to root himself to the ground with his immense weight and simply endure.

So that was what he did.

Because of his massive strength, Zeke managed to inflict plenty of damage. However, that wasn’t his goal. No – he just wanted to occupy the attention of his enemies in an effort to keep them from overwhelming his allies. At first, the new style was only mildly successful, and he ended up taking far more damage than he would have liked. Even as claws raked his earthen form, he slowly adjusted to a more reactive approach that was built on counterattacks. He didn’t try to dodge as he normally would. Nor did he leap at his enemies. He simply took the hits and seized upon any openings that came as a result of the gargoyles’ heedless attacks.

Taking their cues from Zeke, the group adjusted their own styles. Silik stopped firing his skill, instead opting to enhance his body with [Lightforged]. Zeke didn’t know how the enhancement worked, but he’d learned early on that it gave the wielder augmented strength and endurance.  Which was precisely what Silik needed to guard Zeke’s flank.

At the same time, Pudge fell back. Bleeding and clearly fatigued, he began lobbing balls of [Hellfire] from behind the protective line created by Zeke, Silik, and the three golems. He didn’t hit with every cast of his skill, but the air was thick with gargoyles, so he hit more often than not.

Eta summoned more flowers, each one sending a flow of vitality through the group. That, combined with Zeke’s own [Cambion’s Awakening], kept him going. The only issue was that it didn’t affect the golems, so over the course of battle, they began to sag beneath the weight of their wounds.

If they fell, Zeke knew the fight would be over.

Perhaps he could continue to survive – for a while, at least – but once the defensive line broke, it would only be a matter of time before the swarm of gargoyles overwhelmed his allies. And if they went down, he would, too. Not quickly or easily, but it would happen.

So, knowing that he didn’t have much choice, he shouted, “Back up!”

Silik and the golems obeyed without a hint of hesitation, taking a couple of steps back. Instantly, the gargoyles responded to the exposure of Zeke’s position, and they swooped in to take advantage.

They never got the chance, though.

With a swing of his hammer, Zeke used [Unleash Momentum], and a wave of pure force swept out in a wide arc.  Some of the gargoyles were instantly crushed by the powerful skill, and others were simply knocked from the air. They fell to the tentacle monster below, and judging by the screeches and grotesque slurping sounds coming from that distant clash, the creature was more than willing to feast on the stone gargoyles.

But the attack, while powerful enough to cut the gargoyles’ numbers in half, wasn’t enough to win the battle. There were still hundreds remaining, and Zeke had just used his strongest skill.

“Back in position!” he shouted.

As before, Silik and the golems returned to his side. And just like that, the battle resumed. The fighting wasn’t as furious as before, but it wasn’t long before they were once again surrounded and battling for their lives.

Not for the first time, Zeke wished he’d taken more overt attack skills. If he had, perhaps he could have done more than bat the monsters from the air. He killed plenty, but if he had an appropriately powerful skill, he could have slain multiple creatures at a time.

Zeke tapped into his Will, using the power of his path of arcane destruction to add more weight to his attacks. And it worked, after a fashion. Every blow tore through a gargoyle. But he still wasn’t killing them quickly enough. With every passing minute, the power ripped through him, damaging his body and splintering his mind. It wasn’t nearly as destructive as using either of his Breaker techniques, but he could only keep it up for so long before he succumbed to his own power.

One of the gargoyles swooped in, divebombing Silik and knocking the exhausted kobold to the ground. A moment later, a pair of the stone creatures finally took out the axe-wielding golem. Even as Jasper and Pudge dragged Silik back to the wall, Zeke and the remaining two golems adjusted their position. It was only a temporary measure, though. Zeke knew it, and he expected that his companions did as well.

But Zeke wasn’t finished. He still had Worldbreaker at his disposal.

“You’re not fully healed,” Eveline reminded him. “If you use that now –”

“I know,” he growled aloud, too distracted to confine his response to his thoughts. He’d healed well enough to use his normal skills, but there still remained some damage from his previous use of Runebreaker. And given that Worldbreaker was far more destructive than its counterpart, Zeke expected that he wouldn’t survive its use.

But what choice did he have?

If he could sacrifice himself to give his friends an opportunity to win the battle, then that would have to be enough.

“Please, Zeke…”

He didn’t listen to Eveline. As a demoness, she couldn’t understand selflessness. But Zeke had made such a choice before, and he felt completely secure in doing so again. So, he began the process of tapping into his attunements and molding them with his Will.

However, before he could get past the first step, Sasha shouted, “Get down!”

Zeke wasn’t certain why he obeyed her command so quickly. Perhaps he’d grown to trust her. Or maybe, in the back of his subconscious mind, he could feel the massive amount of mana the sorceress had gathered. Either way, he immediately dropped to the ground. Only an instant later, Sasha tossed that ball of mana – which, when Zeke looked back, he saw was tied to a simple rock – into the air.

And then everything went white.

Something flattened Zeke to the ground. His golems, which didn’t have his quick reactions, were obliterated. There was a muffled thump, then an explosion of sound reminiscent of a freight train.

When Zeke’s vision returned a moment later, he saw gargoyles falling from the sky. One hit him in the shoulder, then another fell on his torso.  As he ripped the creatures away, he pushed himself to his feet to see that the cliff was absolutely covered in insensate gargoyles. They weren’t dead. Zeke could sense that much. But they weren’t moving, either. So, hefting his hammer, he shouted, “Throw them over the side!”

And that’s what everyone did. Even Sasha, who seemed more than a little wobbly, added her own strength to the effort, and soon enough, the cliff was clear. In the distance, Zeke saw that a few gargoyles had been far enough away to survive Sasha’s spell. So, he braced for their attack. When it finally came, he reacted with the same brutal efficiency that had characterized the fight so far.

One went down, crushed to pebbles by his impressive strength. Then another. And another after that. The battle resumed, though with the gargoyles’ massively decreased numbers, the tables had been turned. And in a little less than half an hour, it ended when Zeke yanked one of the gargoyles to him with [Center of Gravity] and crushed its skull with his hammer. The thing fell heavily to the ground, where it joined the rest of the dead monsters.

And just like that, it was over.

Silence reigned throughout the cavernous chamber, broken only by the sound of labored breathing.

“Is that all of them?” asked Jasper.

“I…I think so,” said Sasha.

“They’re all gone,” Zeke confirmed. His senses were sharper than everyone else’s, so he had no trouble seeing that the air was clear of threats. He turned to Sasha and said, “Thank you. Without that spell…”

He had been prepared to sacrifice himself, so she had effectively saved his life, and he wasn’t going to soon forget that.

“What was it?” asked Eta. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“It’s…uh…I’ve never used it before. I wasn’t even sure it would work,” Sasha admitted. “It’s a little more esoteric than my normal spells, but it was a combination of force and sound, with a root in arcane mana. It’s kind of hard to explain, really.”

That was true of most of her spells. She and Zeke weren’t that well acquainted. In fact, they’d barely spoken, much less had a conversation about her skills. However, he’d overheard enough to recognize that her spells were governed by entirely different rules than the runes with which he was familiar.

“There are many ways to manipulate mana,” Eveline said, her mental voice subdued. “Runes are just the most obvious one.”

Zeke could readily believe that, though the knowledge certainly gave him something to think about. If Sasha could create such an effect, then he needed to broaden his horizons. Perhaps he could eventually incorporate some new concepts into his planned skill.

For now, though, they needed to survive. And to do that, they had to continue through the dungeon. First, though, he had an idea.

“Has anyone identified that thing down there?” he asked, gesturing to the massive hole.

“The tentacle monster? No,” said Eta. “It’s too far away.”

“How close do we need to get?” Zeke asked. [Inspect] was the most basic of identification skills, and as such, his range was woeful. Both Jasper and Eta both possessed more powerful skills in that category.

“Closer than any of us want,” Eta answered. “Why?”

“I have an idea that might jumpstart our progression.”