Chapter 87: Air Raid (Patreon)

Damian and Tim fired more arrows from the battlement above, while Elise and Serena burst through the front gate with their scepter and staff both glowing white.

[Elise Evans: Cover your eyes!]

I did so just before a blinding light engulfed the camp.

When I opened them again, my vision was hazy and rife with stars.

I looked and saw that Carina seemed similarly affected. She was too slow in reacting when a revenant spearman lunged forward and stabbed her in the shoulder. She cried out and grabbed hold of the spear. With her other hand, she chopped through the spear, cutting it in half before killing the revenant.

I ran over to help her fight the other spearmen while the rest of the revenant forces chose to consolidate around the remaining spellcasters.

Damian and Tim wanted to take them all out first, but as they fired their next set of arrows, an impenetrable ice wall blasted up from the ground to block them.

As I was running, another revenant decided to attack me. It bounced into a golden wall and fell while I kept moving.

“Thanks,” I shouted to Hemi.

He shrugged. “I gotta do something.”

When I reached her, Carina was fending off three spearmen at once with a single hatchet. The spear fragment was still stuck in her shoulder and the affected arm hung loosely by her side. A small pool of blood was forming near her feet from the wound. She couldn’t continue like this for much longer. Not that she’d admit it.

“I don’t need help!” she barked as soon as I’d arrived.

Carina didn’t dare take her eyes away from the spearmen, who continued probing for weaknesses using feints and quick stabs. None of them were intended to actually do her harm. Instead, it appeared that the goal was to tire her out and then finish her off once she’s exhausted.

In their defense, it seemed to be working which was strange. Carina had told me that her Battleborn Class allowed her to get stronger the longer a fight wore on. So what’s changed?

Apart from the three attacking Carina, there was another trio behind who weren’t able to get in on the action. Sensing opportunity elsewhere, they decided to try their luck with me, which broke off my train of thought.

I threw my goblin steel knife at one of them and drew my Viper Fang. My fighting style made me less afraid of taking damage, so I immediately went on the offensive.

*DING!* You have slain [Player Revenant, Class: Spearman (Rare)] Level: 30

My thrown knife embedded itself in the monster’s skull just as I made contact with the other two. The remaining pair backed up for more space while jabbing the metal spear points in my face. Their attacks were fast, and it was clearly designed to throw me off-balance. But with my perception and speed, I was not so easily intimidated.

The blades in my hands blocked both and then skimmed along the spear's surface as I dashed through their defenses.

See, the trouble with spears is that once you close enough distance, they become much harder to use compared to a shorter weapon. Their range is their ultimate advantage, but once you negate that, then they lose much of their utility in a fight.

Twin Heart Strike attacks with knife and sword killed them before they even had time to mount a defense.

*DING!* You have slain [Player Revenant, Class: Spearman (Rare)] Level: 32

*DING!* You have slain [Player Revenant, Class: Spearman (Rare)] Level: 33

I looted their bodies for later and grabbed one of the blood vials from my pouch. I was uninjured, but using so many blade abilities since entering the camp had diminished my energy greatly. Already, I was regretting wearing the amulet, since it made regenerating my stamina more difficult. Despite that, I couldn’t bring myself to put it away. The rush from every kill was exquisite, and its buff ability would be necessary if I came across a larger group.

I choked down the blood while breathing through my noises and threw the empty vial back into my inventory. I still had one large blood potion sitting in that storage space and two full vials on the pouch at my hip. More than enough to take care of all the revenants and have some still left over for the fight with Martin.

I looked back to check on Carina, who, realizing something was off, took a few steps back and dropped her hatchet long enough to rip the spear point out of her shoulder. Her eyes widened, and she gasped while pulling it free. But then she changed. A red glow formed around the hatchet in her hand and the one on the floor. She picked it back up and the red glow spread throughout her body.

Carina sensed that I was watching and grinned savagely. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

I believed her and went to see how the others were doing with the spellcasters and the other remaining revenants.

[Elise Evans: Lucas, watch out for the Ice Witch!]

A six-foot spear of ice exploded above me as it impacted one of Hemi’s barriers. More ice spears flew over the ice wall towards the battlement, where Hemi and the others dove for cover. Apparently, whoever was hiding behind the wall could see through it as well. I’ve got to get over there.

[Damian Sutter: Hugo, now!]

The crow circled high above in the sky before launching into a dive. There was some object clasped in his talons, but I couldn’t make out what it was. At the last second, he snapped his wings open, glided over the ice wall, and dropped the object on the enemy.

[Hugo: Bombs away!]

A cloud of green acidic gas exploded on impact. It ate into part of the ice wall and likely took many revenants with it. Meanwhile, Hugo was already flying back to reload.

So this had been their idea. With Damian’s bombs and Hugo’s flying, they’d turned him into a tactical bomber. Impressive.

Another ice spear formed in the sky and shot towards Hugo. A golden barrier popped up, and it smashed to pieces against it. The Ice Witch was too powerful or smart to be caught out again. If Hugo flew over that ice wall a second time, then there would be a spear waiting with his name on it.

I warned him off and told Hemi to come to me, which wasn’t easy, as ice spears continued to target all of us. Hemi was the main defense against them, but he could do so much more than that.

“What is it?” he wheezed, still unused to running so much.

“We need to deal with the Ice Witch. I want you to fly us both over the ice wall.”

Hemi looked concerned. “Can’t I just fly you over?”

I shook my head. “She’ll have other spellcasters and the bulk of the remaining revenants by her side. Once we’re over the wall, I’ll need your barriers to keep them off of me until I’ve killed her.”

He looked like he wanted to throw up, but couldn’t argue against my logic. After he had a moment to gather himself, he nodded.

[Lucas Hudson: Hugo, Hemi and I are flying over the ice wall. I want you to be a few seconds behind us with another one of those toys. Preferably, one that won’t kill me and Hemi in the process.]

[Hugo: Fine, I’ll bring one of the more boring ones.]

I imagined him sighing as he said it, but once he was back over the camp, I ordered hemi to launch us.

A large golden disc formed under our feet, and Hemi grabbed hold of me. Without warning, we shot up into the air. The wind roared by as hemi propelled us towards the ice wall. More ice spears formed ahead of us, but with another barrier in front, we barreled right through them. As we flew over the wall, I counted nearly thirty fighters near the cave entrance and further away was a handful of spellcasters alongside the Ice Witch who had shrouded herself in rotating shields of ice.

I pointed and Hemi flew us directly at her.

We were coming in fast. Very fast.

It’s fine, I told myself. I’ve got my blood healing and Hemi will have health potions. The other spellcasters wands and staffs began to glow with magic as we plummeted towards them. They would all be too late.

Like two humans in a barrier shaped bullet, we collided with Ice Witch with enough force to shatter her shields and knock away the other spellcasters. Despite the barriers protective capabilities, we slammed in the ground hard.

Dizzy and concussed, I struggled to my feet first. Hemi had done the hard part. Now it was time for me to finish things.

I killed two nearby spellcasters that still lay on the ground, stunned. The Ice Witch had fallen further ahead. I rushed forward, eager to kill her before she regained whatever revenants counted for senses when Hemi shouted, “wait!”

I stopped and then realized my mistake. Up ahead wasn’t the Ice Witch, but a frozen copy of her. It turned to ice and then broke apart the moment I saw through the illusion. Hemi said something I didn’t catch, so I turned back to him.

He was standing in front of the real Ice Witch. He stared at her in pain and disbelief. Tears flowed down his cheeks. “No, it can’t be.”

I ran over to save him, but when I saw what he saw, I too was taken aback. The Ice Witch was Hemi’s old teammate, Rebecca.