Timewalk
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Chapter 330: Heroes of the Crimson Blade (Part 1)
🕑 Added 2025-06-15 14:00:06 +0000 UTCAliandra
With the kind of haughty finger flick of a noble forced to deal with the dirt on their own boot, the Ice Witch cursed the kobold rogue before Ali could even begin to have him flee. Ice mana surged, crystalizing in his veins as the potent spell settled upon him, freezing him solid mid-stride. Trapped within the suddenly rigid kobold’s body, Ali struggled with all her strength, but it was to no avail – her rogue was unable to flex even the smallest muscle. All she could do was watch as the enormous Beastkin strode leisurely toward her.
“Thanks, Lilian,” the massive warrior said.
“I’m going to gut that wench,” the assassin growled, caressing a dagger that leaked dark shadowy mana into the domain.
“We have a job to do, Beltz,” the Beastkin rumbled, drawing up to an even more impressive height in anticipation of a showdown.
“Sorry, Bartak,” the assassin said, nodding in reluctant deference to the larger warrior.
“Best you don’t forget,” Bartak said, eyes flashing for a moment. Then, he grinned, “Playtime after.”
Ali caught a glimpse of the assassin’s wicked grin before the huge Beastkin flicked her kobold with a finger and it shattered into a shower of jagged ice shards spilling down the wall. It was only after her other minions caught sight of Seyah and her party fleeing down the dark tunnel that she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ryn, can you clear the library? We need to get everyone out,” Ali asked. She still didn’t know the intentions of the invaders, but if they were willing to pick on a level three, she didn’t want to take any chances.
“What about the challenge arenas? And the elves?” Ryn asked.
“Shit,” Ali exclaimed, realizing the enormity of the problem. She had upward of two-and-a-half-thousand elves living in her dungeon – she just hoped they were far enough out of the way in the ruins that there wouldn’t be any danger. “We have to try to warn everyone,” she said firmly. She had granted them hospitality – nobody was going to die in her dungeon because she failed to tell them something dangerous was coming.
“I’ll get started on the library,” Ryn said, flaring her wings and zipping off toward the clusters of people studying.
Up in the sewer, the Heroes of the Crimson Blade reached the kobold boss. Without even pausing, the Witch sauntered into the chamber alone and released an unusually slow-moving, swirling, dense blue ball of ice that warped the air around it and prickled Ali’s Sage of Learning skill. As soon as the strange spell reached the center, it detonated. In a flash, the chamber was covered in a layer of thick ice that coated the ceiling, walls, and floor. The kobolds froze like the icy statues of the defenders the Death Knight had left that night in Dal’mohra.
Your Kobold Warrior has been defeated.
Unholy crap! They needed to clear everyone out. Yesterday!
“Efficient as always, Lilian,” the priest said, as the rest of the team waltzed through the chamber unopposed.
The witch merely sniffed.
It took only a minute for the invaders to reach the Timber Wolves, leaving a swathe of dead bodies in their wake. This time the Beastkin warrior drew his gleaming black sword. The moment it was unsheathed, the blade burst into flames, matching the badge emblazoned on their cloaks. He grunted and then charged into the wolves, whirling around several times with powerful slicing strikes and wolves fell left and right – more precisely, pieces of the wolves.
Your Timber Wolf has been defeated.
“Found it!” The assassin appeared in the Timber Wolf den, holding a small sliver of magicite overhead in triumph. “Treasure Sense strikes again!”
“That’s not very big, is it?” the Witch said, frowning.
“Oh, but Treasure Sense says there’s a lot more,” he said, pointing downward. “In that direction.”
“Let’s go,” the half-elf archer said.
“Job first,” Bartak growled, quenching his sword and sheathing it.
Ali felt a moment of panic as they shot off in the direction of her shrine. It was not something she could replace, and after Aman Rak, she also knew they could be destroyed. But her Forest Guardian boss should buy her some time as she scrambled to assemble her troll minions, just in case.
She studied her enemies closely as they approached. Her Forest Guardian might only be level forty, but it had over thirty-three thousand health, and healing magic.
“Bind it,” the assassin said, vanishing into the shadows as they approached.
“Sure thing, Beltz. Greater Binding this, and Greater Binding that, never a ‘please Vernon’,” the priest said, rolling his eyes. But he cast the spell, nonetheless. Instantly, huge chains of glowing holy and shadow magic sprang up out of the ground, rapidly encircling the massive Forest Guardian and dragging it to the ground with a crash while it roared in frustration.
In less than a second, the assassin reappeared, dagger flashing down almost too fast for Ali to see, but leaving a dense trail of mana in its wake. With a burst of shadow mana, the ghostly outline of the dagger punched right through the helpless Forest Guardian’s torso, leaving a crater in the ground below it.
Your Forest Guardian has been defeated.
Ali stared at the notification in shock.
One hit. Oh, that’s not good…
They had killed her Forest Guardian raid boss in a single strike. She barely even noticed them casually mopping up the minions and moving onward as the fear she had experienced fleeing from Roderik came suddenly crashing back. How could she defend against so much power that they could casually dispatch her boss in a single dagger strike?
Your Storm Shaman has been defeated.
Your Brine Ooze has been defeated.
“I thought this dungeon would be stronger,” the half-elf muttered, lowering his bow. “Isn’t it evolved?”
“Just barely above one hundred, Sallis,” Beltz said, punching him on the shoulder. “Walk in the park.”
In a panic, Ali opened her Grimoire to summon more monsters, but she paused, unable to think of anything that might be strong enough. Already the intruders were leaving the Forest Cavern, making a beeline for the ventilation shaft at the guidance of the rogue’s Treasure Sense, and it was clear she was running out of time.
They’re coming. Fast. Why didn’t I build stronger defences? Why?
Ali began frantically summoning trolls as the group vaporized her Abyssal Stalker with a hail of flaming arrows and ice bolts and flew down the shaft on a platform of ice. Blood Thralls detonated in a rolling peal of wet crimson blasts as they passed, but she couldn’t tell if she had done any meaningful damage. All she knew was that she had managed to piss off the Witch, who was complaining loudly about the bloodstains on her robe.
***
“What have we here?” the Witch said, flying low over the hurriedly refurbished ruins Ali had reconstructed for the refugees from Ciradyl.
Elves spilled from their temporary dwellings, scrambling to get away from the weight of powerful unconcealed auras. Shouts of alarm rose from their throats as they caught sight of the three-mark intruders and Ali felt the pressure of guilt constricting her chest. She had not even had the time to get out of the library, let alone warn anyone.
“Can I kill them?” the witch asked, somehow amplifying her voice and turning the shouts into screams of fear.
Ali froze, unwilling to believe she had heard right. They’re people! Who the hells does she think she is?
“We don’t have time for this,” the Beastkin said. “We’re on the clock, remember?”
“It’ll only take a minute,” the witch said, her pleading voice sounding grotesque to Ali’s ears. “They are living in the dungeon, so they’re fair game. Please, Bartak?”
“Fine, sate your lust,” the Beastkin relented. “But do it quickly.”
The Ice Witch’s unrestrained laughter rose over the screams of fleeing elves as she summoned a storm of ice mana within her veins. Her hair began to rise on its own and snowflakes crystallized spontaneously about her levitating form. Several arrows and spells pinged against her ice barrier, but they were as effective as throwing pebbles against a granite battlement.
“Always such a drama queen,” Vernon said, shifting his robes.
“Yup,” Sallis agreed, his sharp eyes scanning the fleeing elves for threats, however unlikely, as he held his bow at the ready. “Want to bet on whether she breaks her one-shot kill count record?”
Ali screamed out through her connection, calling on everything she had. All the Frost Dragonets in the ice biome she had made nearby, and the Frost Weavers too. Every single Icicle Bat, the Arcane Shards, Glitter Dragonets, everything that was close enough to act and free of a domain binding. She sent them all charging.
The giant ball of ice formed once again between the palms of the witch’s hands. As she released it to descend upon the refugee camp, Ali’s minions rushed her. At the last instant, the dragonets screeched, spraying frost breath at the flying witch, some of them even colliding with her bodily, while Ali sent one to intercept the ball of ice.
“What the fuck!” Lilian screeched as several nets of frost webbing hit her squarely in the face, and a squadron of level fifteen arcane shards slammed into her from the side. A half dozen Icicle Bats whipped around her head, flapping up a storm.
Her companions just guffawed, seeing Ali’s minions flinging themselves bodily against her. But the slowly descending ball of icy doom collided with the intercepting Frost Dragonet, freezing it solid without even slowing down.
“A little help? Sallis?” the witch demanded, clearly annoyed. She pulsed a Frost Nova in the air and landed a chilling effect on Ali’s frost minions, shattering the flight of arcane shards in an instant.
“Aww, boo. Lowbies messing up your hair?” Sallis said, but he raised his bow. A sudden hail of flaming arrows flew skyward, as the archer responded to her plea, and Ali’s minions began to plummet to the ground, skewered by smoking bolts of fire mana.
Run! Please run! Ali continued to stare, utterly helpless as the ball of ice descended upon the fleeing Elves, and she knew they wouldn’t be able to get far enough in time.
A glimmer of gold streaked by. A flying book. It opened its pages wide and the golden barrier magic encasing its cover expanded dramatically like a ravenous Brast Rock Python unhinging its jaw to swallow its prey. The book snapped shut around the ball of ice mana. It chomped a few times, the jagged edges of the barrier magic acting like fangs before they receded back to a more normal size. Clarence belched once, letting out a cloud of snow, and then flew off on a lurching path like a drunken sailor the first night in port.
“Uh… did you guys just see that?” Vernon asked, breaking the stunned silence.
“It was a book,” Bartak said.
“It was a level forty-seven book,” Sallis clarified, looking pointedly at the Beastkin.
“Are you blind? It was level twelve,” Beltz snapped.
“I don’t fucking care what level it was! That book just ate my Winter Orb,” Lilian screamed, fury making her voice shrill. “No level thirty book can fly and eat my fucking spell!”
“What are you saying, Lilian? That it was cloaking its level?” Vernon asked. “Or are you seeing mimics again?”
“Don’t be stupid, nothing in this dungeon can be high enough level to do that,” Beltz argued. “Come on, forget the stupid book, the treasure is this way.”
“Forget the fucking treasure. Find me the core!” Bartak roared. The eyes of the others all widened noticeably as the Beastkin finally lost his temper.
“That way,” Sallis said quietly, pointing toward the library. Grumbling and subdued, the group quickly reached the hastily deserted plaza before the library, stopping to survey the arenas and Ali’s challenge minions and kobold healers.
I should run, too, she thought. There was technically nothing left in the dungeon she couldn’t replace or recover later, although the books, the shrine, and the anvil could be destroyed. If they wiped out her dungeon, nothing would be left to stop the demons from swarming out of the rift.
Unfortunately, it was also Lira’s home which would be destroyed along with her dungeon. And that half-elf archer seemed to have a powerful tracking skill that could root her out. Ali frowned, studying the Trolls standing guard around her.
I don’t want to be running all the time. What can I do, what can I do?
“What is this?” Beltz said, surveying the arenas and all the minions she had created for training the adventurers. “This dungeon is a joke. Can we kill this, Bartak?”
“Kill it all,” the Beastkin said through a toothy grin as he drew his flaming sword.
It took the party a few minutes to wipe out everything. Most of her minions died instantly, but some of the higher-level challenges she had made lasted a bit longer, and all too soon, they entered her library.
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Comments
Other
Seriously, why the hell didn't she make defenses!? The fact that all of her allies didn't encourage her to do so just goes to show how little they actually care about her. Seriously does everyone only think "me get stronger, stronger is only important thing"!?
Other
Ali: why didn't I build defenses!? Me: Because the author wants to torment you and make us all watch
Adrian Secchia
I'll be sorry to see you go, if you do choose to drop it.
Sardionysius
This story needs a rewrite from them defeating the troll city. Probably going to drop this story
Tabby the cat
Personally, I'm holding out hope that this is the event that will lead to real change in the town. The town watch has been on the decline, Jax has been losing support (both locally and from Team Lich), and once this is handled there will be ample evidence to tidy the town up and cripple their hold of the area. Then they can develop more political power as a city and work with more places to fight the lich. This slimy party is a bit unpleasant for multiple reasons, but they can be a solid tool to progress the story. I just don't know if they're secretly servants of the lich, or pawns via a servant placed in the upper ranks of the kingdom (or neither, but I can't imagine the lich not getting his necrotic claws in one of the most powerful dungeon killing parties, given his obsession with dungeons). I just hope the part with Ali dealing with this party will be clever and not drag on. There were a few parts of this chapter that were not really your usual writing style and broke immersion a bit, which made the chapter harder to read. Eg "Unholy crap! They needed to clear everyone out. Yesterday!". Just didn't sound like Ali or this book, at all. Also, this chapter is made worse for being released on it's own. When reading books, it's normal to have some parts that annoy readers or are unsatisfying as mc is faced with challenges. It will be better as part of a whole. I do appreciate the setup for Ali pissing off the ice witch by dispelling all her magic, and I liked the bit where the dungeon monsters were trying to intercept the magic to save the elves. I think it would have been better if it worked, though, rather than needing Clarence to save the day. Anyway, sorry for the long comment when I never give feedback as a chronic lurker. I just wanted to say something nice and hopefully slightly helpful because I'm enjoying this book a lot. Tftc. Looking forward to seeing how Ali gets though this.
SpaceFan839
Natural Shrines are not portable despite whatever value they may be, and this very strong and equally greedy party knows this. Also the shrine is worthless if Ali is still alive, so there is that.
Muir
I don't want to seem negative, but 'vastly overpowered outside force rolls the party effortlessly' is a thing that loses its impact with repetition.
Stephanie Washburn
Yeah, you'd think Ali would be using her teleportation circles and recall to better effect here. At least to bring back her friends. Her mind is fast enough to react to the Blind Lich (at least a little). I get that she's in shock and scrambling, but there's no way she doesn't have the reaction speed to have her kobolds talk to the raiding party even if the warning is only: "I can't keep healing you right now."
Stephanie Washburn
Did they not even notice the shrine? And the giant chunk of magicite in it? As greedy as these @#$&s are, I think it would be worth a comment, at least?
Alexix
My god this party is absolute scum. Still not sure how Ali is gonna beat them, but I hope she figures something out. Looking forward to reading the next part
Choronach
Timewalk, my beautiful author! I really hope you have something special because Ali being caught her pants down while friends away was used ages ago. They're all supposed to be smart, they all know who's plotting against them, the exact same plot is being used against her (higher level team to stomp her). With the Blind Lich acting, they should have cleaned the house because they know Ali, Calen's mother, Vivian, heck, even Malika are a thorn in the side of these 2 bits vilains. Ali number 1 priority should be her own protection because without her, Myrin Keeps dead, Jax will never give up until one side is dead and they all know this. Maybe the larger world can deal with the Blind Lich. Maybe they can't. But this all plot is unfortunately not really realistic. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame one me. What's the count? 4? 5? And I really think you'll have either make interludes to show how the rest of the world is preparing themselves for the fight against the Lich or include it directly. One town can do nothing against multiple millenias necromancer. I like everything in this story but these 2 points are two much and it's ruining my fun a little 😭
Tone Engel
I'm betting on a political resolution, though there's been no development of the "nobility" and the larger world (elves, trolls, destruction of everything). Presumably there are lines this kill squad can't cross. Lira? Elder Elves? Elder Trolls? Hit pause on the raids, teleport back all the elders, and a "what-do-you-think-you're-doing-here" confrontation.
Scyfe
Yea, one of my gripes is how no one really follows through on intelligence they have. They knew mieral was mind controlling them at the start but they just ignored it forever. They know jax/kieren are murdering people but they ignore it. Nevyn knows ali has the magic he wants and where she is located due to Nathaniel but I'm assuming he won't act on it... Just hopefully this arc wraps up the evil town watch arc as it's falling a bit flat. Having the adventure group walk in and be over the top comic book evil isn't helping.
John
Im really hoping the team bring down the law on the town watch and the kingdom after this attempted murder. Also echoing other people that id rather have waited until this could be a multipart release, basically nothing happens in the chapter except ali being rushed down, but the franticness is both unpleasant and will have been forgotten/muted by the time the next chapter comes out
SpaceFan839
Ryn did tell her, there has just not been enough time to do anything.
Kensyi
After reading the comments, I think I am going to hold off on reading this chapter until later... I am kinda scared for all of Ali's friends, and all the good people of Merien' Keep.
Tanj
Why did Ryn not tell her they are here to kill her? Why is she not bringing everyone home to help? Well, I guess we will see what the author's plan was, but this better be good.
Gamingninja
Agreed, its just so unsatisfying, atleast if you have the resolution to it it doesnt feels as bad
InLucidReverie
Yeah, this needed to be a part of a double release or something as it's just... Zero enjoyment to be had
InLucidReverie
This is... not enjoyable to read. It's too quick and tje characters are just so comically evil. I was really expecting the dungeon group to be more interested in the dungeon.
Lijwent
I should never have read this today...
shootingQuasar1
Wonder what the three mark tree's level is and what it's gonna do when the adventurers make it there. They even left their back open to Clarence that can't be a good idea...
Rip Woodham
Tbh I'm not sure what is dumber. Ali, the assassins, or everyone else for leaving Ali by herself. Challenge the status quo of the world, have wealth beyond imagining, live in a city with a higher level assassin that wants you dead... and are there even any other shrines that can do what she can after Aman Rak? Seems pretty important with the Lich well on the way to world domination! But nah, let's just not think about any of that.
KramZe
Sadly I must agree with you this chapter really had no enjoyment. I could accept if they were like bandits. But this is just pure Avarice, Lust. They should have been named "The Seven deadly sins.". Sadly I fear there will be more of these 'slimy' chapters.
HornboozeWFG
.... if this is how your acting with ali and the residents of marine keep.... then it's only a wonder how you all across within other dungeons....As this is all so murderhobo behavior, and I shall savor it when you all die as there is straight up no reason for this and then Jax and mori asses are next on the chopping block
CherMi
I still don't see how Ali can reliably beat them. But I can tell that reading this chapter brought me no enjoyment, even though nothing bad has happened. I should probably pause for a week and binge the whole arc, maybe it won't be as slimy with a resolution.
The one Sith to rule them all
Hope she honestly wipes out new Daria too All we’ve seen of them if Pression, exploitation, hate and discrimination Not to mention what with there repeated attacks upon our mc as a person, and now the elves, they culd be heald for treason against the world and cooperation with the lich Thus the conclusion: meteor swarm the capital
The one Sith to rule them all
Well, the crimson blades are officially dead now, jsut can’t stay there hands from innocents
Azgaroth
Until they exit corrupted by the Demon Lord inside....
zimmergage
Isn't the rift the answer
