Forged Legacy

Chapter 162 - Home Run

Armed with a new Imprint and a new skill, the three left the church and made their way towards the front gates. Harvey’s natural regeneration had only managed to fill a quarter of his essence reserves in the short time since he used almost all of it blasting them to safety, so he drank a potion on the way. The higher his endurance grew, the stronger his weave became, increasing the number of potions he could use before he had to start worrying about damaging his inky veins. Anointing himself with ink to attune his weave to his path would supposedly help even more, but he still wasn’t sure how to accomplish that, considering his reliance on so many different resonances.

As promised, Celeste had sent two squads of rifle-bearing angels and a single squad of snipers to accompany them. They were all gathered around Cash, chatting about the plans for the upcoming assault.

“What’s gotten into you, Cash? You should’ve been a teacher if you wanted to spend all your time babysitting the faithful,” a boisterous man laughed as he inspected his rifle.

[Maybe be a little more tactful this time,] Julius warned as Harvey prepared a snarky retort. Cash looked over with amusement as Harvey choked on the words.

“We’re all the father’s children, Adrian. Spend a little time with them, and you’ll see what I see,” Cash replied.

“Not yet, they’re not,” Adrian snorted. “We might call them faithful, but they’re still human until we finish the trial.”

“Then let’s win, shall we?” Harvey asked, pushing into the group. “So you can finish turning all us grubby little humans into your faithful slaves.”

The crowd went quiet, all eyes turned on Harvey as he walked toward the gate without looking back.

“Have the brimfiends all fled back behind the wall?” Harvey asked.

“For the most part,” Cash answered, following lockstep behind him. “A few stayed behind to scout out the area, but it’s only a token force. Hell is basically hoping to use their death rattles as an early warning system.”

“Alright, everyone, follow me. Once we’re in range for the catapult, I’ll start launching bombs. We’ll try and stay out of range of the Mortarhorns for the most part, but I expect the brimfiends to force us into a fighting retreat after every couple shots.”

“We don’t take orders from you,” Adrian huffed.

“Give it a rest, Adrian,” Cash laughed as they stepped back into the wasteland.

Their group wasn’t exactly stealthy with three heavily armored Thorne’s followed by 30 well-armed angels, but they did their best not to make too much noise. They crept from one pile of rubble to another, using the destruction as cover while Steve and Tyler scouted ahead. Brimfiends were scattered all over the ruins, perched atop crumbling chimneys and half-collapsed walls. Cash told the others to hold their fire until they’d been discovered, giving the duo a chance to test their new skills while clearing a path towards the wall.

Harvey watched from afar, ready to intervene at any moment, as they stalked towards a pair of fiends lounging on the slanted floor of a second-story bedroom whose outer wall had burned away. A silver baseball and golden chain appeared in their hands, and they slightly nodded three times like they were counting off before hurling them at the unsuspecting creatures.

Tyler’s pitch looked to be slightly off the mark when the golden laces flared and the ball dove towards the fiend's head. Harvey couldn’t hear anything from this distance, but still shivered as he imagined the crunch of a broken nose. The impact sent the fiend tumbling deeper into the room, out of his sight.

Oh no. That definitely wasn’t enough to kill it.

Tyler threw a second ball, using the secondary effect of his skill to redirect it to skim right over the floor. Neither could see if the shot connected, but Tyler’s slight celebration suggested he might have gotten a kill notification.

Steve had launched his chain simultaneously, the golden links shooting from his wrist like they’d been fired from a harpoon gun. He couldn’t adjust his aim like Tyler, but still managed to catch the left arm of the beast. As soon as it hit flesh, the chain took on a life of its own, snaking around the limb like a boa constrictor. Steve yanked with all his might, pulling the fiend through the air like a rag doll towards his waiting sword.

Normally, Harvey wouldn’t have expected that single tug to be enough, but the skill seemed to be able to winch in the chain on its own. Even as it desperately flapped its wings to try to right itself, its death grew closer. The second it was within striking distance, Steve slashed, carving halfway through its torso before his blade bit into bone.

[I think they turned out pretty good!]

The platoon of angels hiding beside him seemed to agree, clearly surprised they hadn’t been forced to intervene. The pair did a quick sweep of the area before beckoning the rest forward. They took cover in the very same house, careful to make sure no one was standing beneath the exposed bedroom, which looked like it might collapse at any second.

Like this, they picked their way through the battlefield. Steve and Tyler managed to pick off three more pairs of scouts before a fiend, suffering from multiple broken ribs, managed to flap high enough to catch the attention of some of its allies. The crack of a sniper rifle punched a hole in its chest, but the damage was done.

“Go! Go! Go!” Harvey shouted, leaping out of cover and running down the street towards the others.

“Agh, sorry!” Tyler apologized.

“Don’t worry! You guys did well!” Harvey smiled.

The platoon of angels followed at a more sedate pace, shooting down every brimfiend that came within range. A few scattered fireballs were flying back, but the squad still had plenty of skills to use on top of their standard-issue weaponry.

Artificer’s Eyes was a great skill when it came to taking measurements in the forge, but it also worked as a near-perfect rangefinder out on the battlefield. It helped him know exactly when he was within range, and he plopped down the catapult. The arrays he’d added with Adaptive inscription were gone, already faded away despite being stored in his spatial ring. Pulling out his bottles of Sanctified Bulwark and Inferno Ink, he activated the skill. Drops of ink levitated up and out of the bottle, the bulwark ink being much larger since the reinforcement arrays were a lot bigger than the tiny flame burst he inscribed on the bottom of the throwing arm. It was hard to focus with the bright flashes and booming cacophony of gunshots exploding all around him, so he made sure to take his time. Julius acted as a steadying hand, helping him to almost see the pattern on the metal as if it were already there.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

[It’s done!]

“Clear a path for the bomb! And please don’t shoot anywhere near it once it’s in the air!” Harvey shouted as he ratched down the scoop. Steve had been maintaining a barrier above them to protect Harvey while he worked and let it dissipate once the Shattersmite Core was loaded. The odds it actually landed were getting lower by the second as more and more brimfiends flew up and over the wall, but he’d settle for blowing a chunk out of the sky.

“Firing!”

Whoosh!

The catapult snapped forward, sending the core flying. As he guessed, it collided with a brimfiend before it reached the ground. The impact triggered arrays all activated simultaneously, creating a flash of gore, steel, and flames that almost looked like a firework. Kill notifications flooded in as over a dozen brimfiends got caught in the blast. Unseen mortarhorns tried to return the favor, but their bombs of abyssal flame simply didn’t have the range.

“Do we move?” Steve asked, emptying a magazine from his own rifle into the unholy tide.

“Not yet!” Harvey replied, ratcheting the catapult back down. Each Shattersmite Core he created with Echo Forge took a significant chunk of his essence, and he was already feeling the strain on the sigil. Still, he kept going, imbuing his creation with his Architect of the Veils End Imprint as it formed.

Whoosh!

This core struck true, landing behind the now raging Gluthog. Only two kill notifications appeared, both for the much higher level Mortarhorns. They were the real threat to Heaven’s Army when they tried to break the siege tomorrow, so he’d prioritize them even if he’d get more essence and merit blowing up brimfiends.

“Good hit! We’re moving!” Harvey announced, struggling to store the catapult.

Normally, the angels wouldn’t move until Cash echoed his orders, but this time they followed without question. They were too preoccupied with shooting down their assailants. Even Cash was unloading mag after mag of heavy magnum rounds from his golden hand cannon, acting as the last line of defense against any fiend lucky enough to push through the much longer range of the rifles.

It was too bad that the angels were already at the level cap. Almost all who’d entered the trial were already Level 75. It was the limit the System allowed for those entering newly integrated worlds, and even then, they were all under heavy restrictions, while the Earthlings were given a chance to catch up. Cash had told him that they’d all had their stats pushed back up to where they were at Level 65, a 5-level bump from the Level 60 all the demons he’d fought so far had been at.

They were growing too fast.

He felt like he’d been moving at a breakneck pace, and yet he was still only Level 49 with his Class. The only reason he managed to kill two demons at once was his larger arsenal of skills provided by starting at G-Grade and his three Imprints. If he was going to turn the tide of this war, he had to grow faster.

Before dashing away, he pulled out his revolver and unloaded three shots into each of the screaming gluthogs he’d injured with his last core. Heaven’s Wrath turned angry squeals into terrified screams as golden fire ravaged them.

You have slain Level 61 - Gluthog. Essence Gained. 6298 Merit Earned

Their small company moved parallel to the wall, stopping every 100 feet or so to launch another wave of Shattersmite Cores. In the grand scheme of things, they were only making a dent in the demon forces. Not a small dent, but a dent nonetheless. The battlefield was just too big. Their particular gate was fairly active thanks to the presence of an angel lieutenant not far behind, but it was still only one of many. Perhaps they would make the difference on this small section of the battlefield, but it wasn’t like he could even the odds in a single night.

Harvey’s weave screamed as he conjured his 20th core. He’d drunk another essence potion after the first dozen, but the veins around the sigil had reached a breaking point.

“Agh!” he groaned as he lost control of the skill and the half-formed explosive shattered into dust.

“We’re running low on ammo!” Adrian shouted.

Harvey limply loaded the original Shattersmite Core that all his replicas were based on into the catapult and pulled the release.

“Help!” he croaked as he struggled to pick up the heavy iron catapult. Only his weave had really been strained throughout the fight, but his body still felt weak. Cash bent down and lifted the opposite end, allowing Harvey to store it back inside his ring.

“What happened? Are you ok?” Cash asked.

“I’m wrung out,” Harvey answered. “We’re done for now.”

Cash nodded, yelling out for everyone to retreat.

“Wait!” Tyler shouted. “Cover me for one more minute!”

“Son? What the hell are you…” Steve began, his golden shield flickering as he forced the last shreds of mental energy he had left to imbue it with his Imprint.

Tyler’s body blurred before their father could finish. Despite the Mortarhorns not landing a single good hit this entire time, they kept firing. Harvey had seen Tyler itching to try and bat one back over the wall, but he’d dutifully protected the catapult. Now that it was over, it looked like he was going to give it a shot.

A host of brimfiends turned toward him, choosing to pursue the lone target brave enough to break away from the ball of holy resistance. Tyler ignored them, sprinting past their attacks towards the spot the next Mortarhorn attack would fall. His silver bat shone with all the holy power he’d built up with Blessed Break, practically vibrating as the barrier of Contact Hitter enlarged the barrel. With a perfectly timed swing, he hit the ball of black flame center mass, sending it rocketing up and away towards the wall. The brimfiends – having seen the result of one of their brothers catching one of Harvey’s bombs – scrambled out of the way, letting the fireball sail all the way to a gluthog’s head.

Boom!

The swine squealed in agony, thrashing into its brothers wedged in on either side. The beast was much more resistant to the infernal flames than if they’d been filled with holy resonance, but it still looked effective. Harvey was worried he’d have to drag his brother out now that he’d gotten a taste of what Contact Hitter could do, but was relieved to see Tyler sprinting back towards them.

“Home run!” he shouted happily, his voice distorting as he struggled to avoid the fireballs being launched his way.

Idiot, Harvey smiled as he took aim at the screaming hog. Even conjuring a Heaven’s Wrath bullet – much simpler and cheaper than his Shattersmite Core – felt like he was stabbing himself, but he pushed through and didn’t stop shooting until the hog was dead. The kill notification showed he’d only earned half as much merit as the last one, so it looked like Tyler had gotten partial credit for the kill.

“We should do that more often,” Harvey said as he ran up beside his brother. “Killing those will help you level a lot faster.”

“Oh, sure! Charge right towards the bombs! That’s great advice to give your little brother!” Steve griped.

A trail of brass bullet casings littered the ground like a trail of breadcrumbs leading them home. With three squads of angels backing them up, they were able to make a fighting retreat instead of being forced to launch themselves over the wall like a missile. Dead brimfiends fell like rain, joining the hundreds of bodies dotting the battlefield all around them.

Still, Hell pursued, only giving up their chase once they’d gotten close enough to the gates for reinforcements to join the fray. In the end, two humans, one gilded, and close to 30 angels stumbled back into paradise, all exhausted despite having only left two hours earlier.

Adrian laughed. “For humans, you three are pretty ballsy!”