novelraw Chapter 253 - 252 - Shadow Puppets
Chapter 253 - 252 - Shadow Puppets
Lind had been right to be worried about the time dial. Rather than the slow transition from day to night, darkness seemed to cover the land the moment the dial hit sundown.
They quickly fell back to the middle wall. While the large outer wall was impressive, with only 97 people, they were spread too thin. Going to the middle wall would buy some time as they assaulted the defenses that would respond automatically and some of their forces could fall back to prepare the inner wall.
Lind had to stay at the frontlines per the new condition imposed on them, but after his little demonstration, no one complained. The cannons ceased to operate at his command on the outer wall, but a nasty surprise would await any that tried to use them to attack inwards.
They had all barely settled and lit the middle and inner walls with some fire and light Qi when the sound of thunder was heard. Lind smirked as it meant someone had tried to sneak around the outer territory and found some more of his traps.
It likely did not incapacitate them, but it bought time. The time dial was still moving and Lind estimated that night was exactly 12 hours Earth time. This place was not natural and the day night cycle was rigid. His enemies only had so much time to attack.
A few more rumbles, flashes, and surges of various elements occurred before silence returned. At one point, there was a crimson flash but without being able to have a clear view, they did not know how many enemies were left.
Lind had wondered at the absence of a counter but obviously that was on purpose. Who would relax until the final announcement? The enemies would keep coming and losing a spot in the tournament was personal, not a group victory. All of them wanted a shot at the Inheritances at the end.
His Eyes suddenly saw large shapes looming over the wall.
"Shadow Puppets!" Lind's words made all near him gasp and then they heard stone shattering shortly afterward. It was a powerful Art but heavily restricted by environment and time of day. The tournament gave the ideal circumstances for it to flourish.
"What can we do?" Cara had never faced a puppet master in her life but Lind was in the same boat. Still, he had studied a lot of World Arts. Seeing the wall he Forged broken so easily was informative for the future, but for now, he would try a direct approach.
"Let there be light, I guess." Lind's words made her face scrunch up but he touched the cannon next to him and pure light flared. It was far brighter than the sun and she had to turn away.
A thump rumbled along the wall but the orb launched went straight up. Given the golden color, all looked away as Lind had already nearly blinded them once. The orb reached the zenith of the space before it exploded outward.
Cara had likened it to the sun, but instead it nearly burned her eyes even though she was not looking at it. How bright was that and how did Lind do it?
The light revealed giants of darkness but they began to sizzle from his attack.
"It won't last, attack quickly!" His shout was relayed and cannons fired at the shadow puppets. Despite being only composed of darkness, they had some substance to them. Qi of fire and light was best but water and earth could disrupt them as well.
Cara counted at least a dozen puppets in her sight, but the sound of stone breaking came from behind them as well. They were encircled! If Lind had not used the light, they would have been overrun before the night was even close to halfway over.
"This will only buy some time, how many light orbs can you launch?" Lind frowned at her question but understood the misconception. What he had done was not technically a simple light attack. It had been a combination of fire, air, and light.
While it seemed brighter, all he really did was replicate what he could infer from basic physics classes back on Earth in relation to the sun. What made it brighter was being closer to the source, but it was hardly easy to create.
Over half his dantian was drained but the other issue was the mental strain was worse. Trying to mesh his cultivation with Earth science was about filling in gaps with guess work. Visualizing the result helped but he had forced that last attack.
"Unfortunately, I cannot replicate that orb again. It takes too much mental power that I can't recover so easily." Lind had elixirs of varying ability to recover various aspects, but mental and soul strain were still beyond him. It was on the list of things he wanted to study.
His Dantian Restoration elixir had potential answers but he had to study the various aspects to see if they could be isolated from its overall purpose.
Cara frowned as while they were repelling the giant puppets for the moment, they would recover quickly as the light faded. Even now, she could look out without wincing which spoke to how short lived that orb would be.
How would they deal with darkness Arts without a powerful light attack that currently only Lind could produce. It was a fairly glaring weakness of their group that only Lind could fill. Still, his artifacts were fueled by all 6 elements, perhaps one of the powerhouses had a trick to use light Qi as well.
"We will have a night battle no matter what we do. We need to prepare while that orb lasts." Lind began to summon artifacts and arrange them around him. Cara was stunned as all 6 elements gathered swiftly around them and flowed into him. What were these artifacts?!
"I have no formation ability but I found a work around with help from my wives and testing. These artifacts only work for me at the moment but I hope to make something more compact in the future that could be carried around for use in cultivation." Cara needed no further explanation.
Many sects and clans used giant gathering arrays to increase the quantity or quality of Qi for their members. It was a reward for rising in the ranks to move to a more dense area, but such arrays were impossible to move. Smaller versions could be constructed but they were short term only and required a lot of time to set up.
If Master Frey could make an artifact to mimic such an effect, a cultivator on a journey or mission could quickly recover in the less dense Qi filled world. It would make him in the highest demand or the most hunted man depending on the vested interests of the various powers.
For now, she was glad he could recover but then noticed the artifacts cracked after only a few moments and lost their ability.
"As you can see, I have a long way to go." Cara nodded and felt the revelation earlier was not so bad. If it was only one time or limited use, it would be in high demand but not a threat.
Lind moved and touched certain spots on the wall. Qi flowed and the whole wall seemed to hum. He smirked as he had not been able to cover all the functions he put into the city, but the middle wall had some options the outer wall could not contain.
Still, the shadow puppets were collapsing slower than hoped and their strength was impressive. The night time of the tournament was perfect for them to demonstrate their skills. Lind felt like it was the point of the tournament not only to eliminate contenders but also to evaluate the level of skill the contenders had.
He had tried to imagine all possible forms of attack but he was still mastering World Arts across the various combinations and creating some pseudo Arts of his own. Still, he had employed several of his ideas when he made the current structures. They worked beyond his wildest projections.
The coliseum had helped him where he lacked in Qi but seeing the ideas work inspired further Forging comprehension. He felt like he had a firmer grasp and wished he had time to experiment, but for the moment, this would be his grand experiment.
The light orb faded to the point that the shadow puppets blended back into the night but a few attacks still flared until full night fell again.
The middle wall, however, was glowing. All were stunned as the profound feeling of Qi was at the peak of the Iron Tier. What was the wall doing?
The group of cultivators did not have long to study as the sound of cracking stone resumed if not at the same level as before. Clearly, some of the shadow puppet users had exhausted themselves or the Art was not the basis of their strength.
Lind suspected their group had shared techniques or Arts that matched their environment well. Likely the shadow puppets would have been waiting in that dark cavern they saw before.
Still, he applauded their adaptation of their tactics. Removing the magma had reduced their light source by far and thus the shadows had receded. Lind had brought them onto his home court but they were running rampant now.
The wall crumbled to his Eyes, but it would not be so easy to advance.
Now that the wall was down, he could make out individuals behind the giant puppets following in their wake of destruction.
"Good evening gentlemen and women. Welcome to my parlor." Lind's smile looked fairly evil as they reached the first buildings. Humans were complex beings but they were also predictable. When inside what looked like a city, they would instinctively look for resources.
As planned, several people went into the 'shops' and 'homes' he had laid out. Not even a breath passed before the outer city lit up like a Christmas Tree. If he could have, Lind would have danced, but it was not the time to celebrate.
"What–" One of the messengers nearby was trying to ask what was happening when the buildings imploded in fire, earth, water, and all the elements. The shadow puppets were hardly affected by the fallout, but a few dispersed as their conjurers likely lost control.
A few crimson glows showed Lind had made a few hits, but not even 5 from what he could tell. That still left close to 80 enemies.
Still, their speed slowed down as the puppets advanced. Lind frowned as none of his traps were triggered but he would remember it for the future. For now, he put his hand on the wall surface and felt the rough stone beneath his hand. A warm glow had reached everywhere on the middle wall.
It was ready.
The shadow puppets were revealed in the faint light but were hardly affected by it. Still, Lind smiled which made Cara shiver. They clearly never knew the depth of this man and his history was consumed by his struggle to advance. Now that he was free from it, it was clear there was far more to Lind Frey.
"Everyone get down, now!" Lind's orders were relayed as he triggered the first line of defense in the middle wall. Spikes of earth laced with light flared outward. Lind had to look away as the light he imbued was too much for anyone to look at.
It was a direct physical attack laced with an element of his choosing but a glance at the elemental pools towards the center told him the light well was depleting. Still, the attack did what he wanted.
The shadow puppets were not only disrupted by the light once more, the users were blinded by the sudden attack. It was the entire wall, not just the side Lind was on.
"Ready yourselves to attack when the light fades!" He shouted his signal and it was relayed quickly. They had to target the puppet masters and to attack they had to be nearby. Lind hoped they could strike them down or the middle wall would fall as fast as the outer wall.
The light faded and various Arts exploded outward with the use of the cannons. The power was a magnitude higher than the cultivator launching it alone. Cries of pain, surprise, and rage filled the air but many of the puppets vanished completely.
"FIRE!" A cry came from out on the battlefield as orbs of fire and earth coalesced. Lind frowned and slammed his hands onto the wall. The Qi in his dantian practically drained but he had no time to collect more from the world.
Magma balls flew in the air but were met by ice spikes from the wall. What should have shattered like glass instead dispersed the magma easily. Roars of frustration flared but Lind knew he had only been able to trigger his side of the wall.
"Fall back if your part of the wall is breached. Get to the inner wall!" Lind shouted and his orders were relayed. Cara had her sword in her hand as it hummed with green light. Air Qi made the sword far more deadly as she carved through a rock Lind had missed.
"Thank you, Lady Cara. Everyone, fall back while attacking now!" Lind activated the last prepared attack and the wall burst with fire and light. Lightning made a shield and his Eyes showed some crimson glows on the far side but he could not rejoice.
Violet glows were showing up in a few places, meaning they had lost some as well. Still, it was a battle and chaos was inevitable but he noted his mistakes as the final wall would have to last until dawn.
"Let's go!" Cara jumped down with him and they ran off toward the inner wall. Lind was covered in sweat and barely recovered any Qi. He downed elixirs and swiftly felt better but it was not good for the long term.
The lightning shield held for a bit, but once one part of the wall was broken entirely by a shadow puppet, the whole dome collapsed. Lind looked grim, but he accepted he had a lot to learn. All the mistakes and lessons were worthwhile but the stakes on the line made him realize how easy it would be to panic.
"Lord Frey, the far side of the inner wall is already under attack!" The messenger nearest him was listening to the call tube and Lind felt tired and sore, but smirked.
"It won't be so easy to break this wall!" Lind slammed the stone and it lit up immediately. Rather than attack from the wall, the stretch of buildings between the middle and inner wall shifted as a terrifying blaze of light flared out.
It was not the light Qi from the pool, but the shining Qi source beneath the surface. Lind had built it as a massive trap and it now sprang closed on his enemies. The deep ravine led into a blinding light that now escaped.
All the shadow puppets vanished instantly as many crimson glows lit the field. The battle did not end, so there was still more to come.
Lind nearly collapsed as he had to cultivate to recover or risk damage to his foundation.
"Let loose with anything we can. Hold the wall and let's win this!" Lind gave the words and the messenger now looked with deep respect at him. Lady Cara also looked at him differently. He had made mistakes but this moment cemented his place in the battlefield. It would never be forgotten how Lind Frey turned the whole environment to his advantage.
He was a monster incarnate and she pitied his enemies in the future.