blacksmithoftheapocalypse
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672. Soldiers stand
🕑 Added 2023-01-03 15:59:01 +0000 UTCThings turned when hundreds of elite monsters appeared at the plateau. Their reign of undisputed superiority at the edge of the cliff was broken and the field was slowly filling with an army of elite insects.
<Nosoderma lv.91 (Elite)>
Mina fell back under the onslaught of a group of weird insects with thick armor and earth skills. She wasn't in much danger, but she took a lot of time to kill them, despite <Primal Rage> and <Strategists Mentality>. Their defense was so tough that it took her many attacks just to kill one.
To get through their thick skin in the middle of the fight, she had to keep striking the same place with a combination of shadow magic and her Shard of biting Ice to shatter the shell. Even <Ice Field> and <Cursed Ice> could only slow them down.
The cat girl regretted having not enough time to get acquainted with her engagement rings, as using <Nyx> or <Erebus> still felt unnatural to her and she had been unable to incorporate their advantages into her fighting style.
She could use the ice skill and <Blessing of Andras> to slow them, but there were too many to concentrate on killing one at the time.. The shadow assassin pulled back to see if she could switch enemies with someone else, but the whole battlefield was in chaos with the other vanguard slowly retreating back to the fort.
She was on the way back, too, when a sudden sound made her halt in place. Some distance away she could also see her brother, Mike, similarly standing still. The rhythm of the anvil swelled and even the hordes of the Hive came to a standstill, as the demonic lyre joined in.
A choir echoed through the canyon and the sickly orange light of the holy land dimmed. Looking above, Mina found a cathedral made of jarring blue light had blocked the sky and covered the plateau.
She found herself standing frozen stiff until a deep, demonic voice thundered across the army.
It took a moment for the words to take on shape in her mind. She didn't know what they said, but the understood what they meant.
“... Soldiers stand... from all around the world... waiting... to hear the battle cry...gathered here, victory is near! ...Sound will fill the hall, bringing power to us all~”
A blazing blue halo enveloped everyone on the battlefield and Mina could feel a strength fill her body and an urge growing in her hands.
“We alone .. fighting a battle that is true.. own the right to live the fight, ”
Mina felt the power growing and with it an overpowering emotion of duty and bloodlust. While the halo on the monsters was extinguished, the one around the member of Minas Mar blazed stronger.
“We're here for all of you! Now swear the blood upon your steel will never dry. Stand and fight together beneath the battle sky.”
Suddenly she raise her weapon in the air and joined in on the choir of Minas Mar.
“We are warriors! Warriors of the World!”
Dark light fell from the cathedral ceiling, like a blessing, onto all members who sang the choir. The power flooded her mind with wrath and inspiration and she naturally threw herself into the fight, using her skills in ways she had not yet explored.
“To bring them all destruction, suffering, and pain! We are the hammer of the gods, we are thunder, wind, and rain!”
“Erebos!”
Almost a third of the plateau vanished in a dark sphere. Mina's approach completely changed from her original style as an assassin and more like a shadow mage. Inside the sphere, she was just another shadow without a body, merged with the darkness.
Instead of attacking with her daggers, she only cast shadow blades that cost her almost nothing in this state. As the elite monsters tumbled in the darkness, they were attacked by thousands of blades that came from all angles. It didn't matter that only a few managed to break their shells and armor as they soon suffered the powers of the <Offspring of Darkness>.
Some turned into decrepit old creatures with fragile shells and little power, others died instantly, or fell into a deep slumber, unable to even register their death by a thousand cuts. More stood in shock or shame, suffered self-pity, or went berserk against their own people.
All the while others like Mike, Faenys, and Fin were able to see in her darkness and had also fallen into a battle frenzy. The Fairy's swarm of frost moths was constantly growing, drowning the enemies as her fist kept pounding like a jackhammer.
Faenys' yatagan constantly changed shape and traveled unconventional paths to strike the wound cut by Mina's shadow blades causing terrifying status effects all over the place. Mike turned into a brute, headbutting monsters into oblivion, just as often as burning them down with his sword. His fighting style became a lot more erratic and brutal as he started incorporating successive headbutts into his fighting style.
Similar scenes happened all across the plateau as the members of Minas Mar started to quickly incorporate the power of their legendary items into their fighting styles. With a burst of manic laughter, Azul stopped focusing on spells and jumped into melee combat. She used the demonic lightning with her peal of manic cackle she fried anyone that dare to step in front of the spear.
She was accompanied by James who covered her back like a guard dog and easily deflected anyone who got too close. Another part of the field was filled with raging flames, none of which were Seth's fault. Edward and Jess were raging in that place turning it into a hell with a combination of White Hilt of Ixion and a constant barrage of fire spells.
Other places were plagued by curses from Ray the Shaman and Evee, Water/Ice magic from Shay, and the manic slaughterers like Duhu, Lydia, Monique, and Jonah. All supported by Bulko, and Ferdinand, the only priests, and a constant stream of elemental arrows that sowed discord among the enemies.
The only mage still firmly standing on the walls of the camp was Alison, her lips rapidly moving as she constructed a massive spell. A giant magic circle took shape in the sky above the plateau, weakening or outright blocking enemy magic.
Under the support of the spectral cathedral above them, they fell into an explosive charge, pushing the limits of their skill and reaping lives. The initiative was again on the side of Minas Mar and the elites started to show panic, as they were faced with an overwhelming rampage.
“There they wait in fear with swords in feeble hands. With dreams to be a king, first one should be a man! I call about and charge them all with a life that is a lie.”
A sickly dark aura now also enveloped the insect and another verse of diabolic lyrics crept into their ears.
“And in their final hour, they shall confess before they die.”
Everyone immediately noticed a rapid change as about half of the enemy left became slower as if tied down by a heavy burden. Nobody asked twice and the elites of Minas Mar jumped on the weakened enemy like hungry wolves.
…
“Good Work. I'm impressed.” Oz praised the bard.
Seth took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. When he saw everyone retreating, he realized that he may have been a little too overconfident. After belching out the last verses, he had to sit down and take a short break.
He was just glad he didn't have to keep the song up for long to change the tide this time. The situation was mostly decided. Although the effects of the ballad would slowly wear off, the memory of how they used their skill would stay with them.
His throat felt sore and his mana and willpower were about half exhausted, but he had succeeded in not just singing, but also playing an epic-rated piece. He wasn't sure at the start, but the ballad had actually to turn the situation without stepping in himself or using the golems.
“Thank you. Thanks for teaching me.”
“Hey, this is all on you. To be able to succeed in a work of Man'Owar is a sign of the effort you put into it.”
Seth looked across the battlefield. Seeing the others getting rid of the last remnants he felt confident enough to take a look at his status. In shock, he saw that his level had jumped all the way to 85 with the experience he got from acting as a support.
With the previous point, he now had 133 attribute points and 12 skill points. He also checked his skills. He had heard a notification about the system quest, but he didn't have the time to pay attention to it.
After checking for a moment, he finally found what had changed. For one, he had a new skill.
<Active Skill: Seed of Hades, 10000 Mana, No Cooldown
Hades used the seeds of pomegranates to tie his wife to himself. This way Persephone would spend half a year with him in the underworld and half a year with her mother on Mount Olympus.
If you capture a Soul and find its original body, you can reforge their bond and bring them back to life as your subordinate. They will have all the power and potential they originally had in life, but can only leave your domain for half a year, before needing to return. If they fail to return in time, their life is null and they will return to a corpse for good.>
This was massive! It was a true resurrection skill, kind of. It was arguable whether this was better than just using his own method of resurrection as a Faer when it came to raw power. But Seth could imagine that their intellect and memory would be more complete if he used this skill.
It took a little longer to find the second change that was unlocked with lv.80's systems quest. A small tick beside his Infernal Scald (Unique) in his status. He had unlocked the job advancement for his second job!
He was just about to check what his option were when a massive tremor shook the plateau below their feet.
