novelraw Chapter 244: Reinforcements
Chapter 244: Reinforcements
Odrin fired his crossbow with speed and precision born from years of experience, each bolt acting as the arbiter of death for whomever it hit. His skills enabled every bolt he fired to track his target, only the most slippery of foe could hope to escape his aim.
Saddly for Odrin, he was facing an army of space attuned creatures being led by a true incarnation of the element.
His bolts would lance forward with devastating force, only for a portal to snap into place at the last moment, its exit portal leading back towards his own people in a display of diabolical skill. He gritted his teeth, annoyance flashing in his eyes as he was forced to exert greater amount of mana and concentration to enable his arrows to either evade the portals or simply blow right through them.
Still that was not a strategy that could last forever, he simply lacked the mana reserves to keep that kind of bombardment up for long.
The adventures had formed an adequate defensive line, yet that would only be true for normal beasts and monsters. These pacial creatures simply teleported behind them, entirely avoiding the prepared defenses in favour of attacking from weakspots.
Still these were experienced fighters, so even when they were caught off guard they did not back down. Quickly adapting to the new state of the battlefield, mages and support classes were quickly moved to stand surrounded by allies. Mele fighters covered the rear line and mages erected what defenses they could.
It was not enough.
The first adventure died only a few minutes into the battle, Odrin watched as the man was cut down and dragged into the feral hoard, never to be seen again.
The man’s companions raged at the loss, dishing out a level of devastation that could have scared lesser beasts off. Saddly these creatures were not lesser beasts running solely off instincts. No, they were being guided by a greater will.
Yet Odrin could do nothing to this being, he had naturally tried to shoot at the creature that still stood at the back of the army, yet all of his bolts were either redirected or simply shattered against sturdy shields. None off his usual tricks worked leaving the dwarf frustrated as he was forced to focus on the regular creatures assailing the adventures.
The situation was only getting worse and worse, another adventures was soon killed, this time one of the previous support types.
Odrin was beginning to consider if he would flee by himself, at least then he could get the word out about this creature and request help from a sovereign. Yet he knew if he did that then he would be condoning all present to death, something he was unwilling to do.
It was then that Odrin felt the all too familiar sensation of the dungeon portal opening, a flicker of hope flared in his heart and he chanced to look behind him to see who had emerged, hoping against all hope that it would be one of the high leveled parties.
When he saw a group of 5 girls, all seeming to still be in the early stage of tier 4 he was initially disappointed. Yet that feeling did not last long as he watched them burst out in a surge of power.
The one in the front charged forward with undeniable momentum, her wooden shield covered in both vicious looking thorns and reinforced with a thin film of water. When the shield impacted with the first of the creatures its body was crushed and sent flying from the force, its momentum knocking over a small group of creatures.
Then a flash of lightning seemed to pierce through the entire front line of creatures, each one struck having its body frozen in place for a prolonged moment, the adventures fighting them did not let that chance go to waste resulting in several freshly killed creatures.
Odrin then watched as the next girl took a single step forwards only to disappear, his sharp eyes saw a flicker of movement in the middle of the army and turned to watch as the same girl reappeared in the middle of them all.
He wanted to shout at her to retreat yet froze when he realised that she had somehow turned into 4 versions of herself. Then a moment later of pseudo domain of ice erupted from her location, the chilling temperature able to be felt even from his location so far away.
Odrin was amazed at the power that these three combatants displayed, their arrival instantly alleviating the pressure faced by the adventures and allowing them a brief moment to catch their breath. Yet that was not all that this group of women provided.
A soothing wave of water enveloped the beleaguered adventures, wherever the water touched wounds were simply erased, fatigue eased and the fighter stood straighter as their weary bodies felt their aces and pains be washed away.
Yet that was only 4, Odrin couldn’t help but look hopefully at the last of the girls that had arrived wondering if she too would be able to display something that could also help turn this desperate battle around.
At first he was surprised, the girl did not seem to be doing anything. She had rushed around in a bit of a circle, as if she wanted to get a clear line of sight of only the creatures. He assumed that she was a mage based on the flowing purple and blue robe that she wore, so maybe she had a powerful skill that needed the space?
Yet he was not ready for what she actually did. First as she was running Odrin watched as she let out a beastial roar, he felt more than saw a wave of power wash out from her. As it passed over the adventurers and himself he felt the invigorating effects, when it passed over the creatures he watched in glee as they seemed to stumble and freeze up.
’An area buff and rebuff skill all in one?’ He mused to himself in amazement, that kind of skill was incredibly useful, especially in a situation such as this. But as he watched the reptilian woman continue to circle the army he wondered what else she would display.
Odrin watched as a purple light seemed to emit from her chest, a faint feeling of danger prickled his mind as he watched the phenomenon with curiosity. This light built up swiftly until she stopped in place and let loose yet another roar that shook the very ground itself.
Yet that was only the prelude, the world turned purple in a flash of power. Odrin felt his eyes open wide as he bore witness to a colossal blast of unadulterated destruction erupted from the girls mouth.
It looked like the very concept of space had been simply deleted from existence wherever that beam touched. Spatial shield and portals were erected in rapid order by the creatures, yet what hope did special magic have when defending against a concept that seemed to refute the existence of space itself?
The answer was none. The hastily summoned shields shattered one after another, any and everything that the beam touched was erased. The girl then turned her head and allowed the destruction to spread further.
The attack only lasted for a scant few seconds, yet during that time when the world was delaminated in shades of purple close to 30 of the attacking creatures fell.
Odrin watched on in mute awe as the arrival of these 5 girls had somehow managed to entirely change the outlook of this battle. No linger did he consider fleeing, no longer did this look like an insurmountable challenge, no, now their was hope.
Hope that they could survive this disaster after all.