[Ashborn-B1] 71. Waves (Patreon)

LXXI

Waves

Above us, the central pillar burned bright. Light radiated from the glass orb, where the roosting, Divine Beast was curled up into a ball.

The shock going through my shard grew stronger and stronger.

I frowned. ‘That could be a problem.’ Any worse and it’d hinder my concentration during battle.

Beside me, Ren tested his gear. Rin crouched and plucked a stalk from the ground.

“Don’t worry,” I snorted, “the action will begin soon.”

“It better.”

I was with these two because we’d chosen to divide the factions between the pillars. One faction for each. Our Dawnflame clan was defending the central pillar. The other three clans had tried to fight that decision, but since this was ‘our’ shrine (as far as a shrine could be someone’s), and attacking us at the start of the shrine wasn’t an option, they’d dropped the matter.

To be honest, defending the central pillar wasn’t a boon. From what we were told, every pillar would come under assault. The central pillar would be under the heaviest fire.

That’s why I told the others to give the pillar to another clan, but they disagreed.

‘We wanted to be the clan closest to the Divine Beast once the shrine finishes,’ Raven said.

Which only mattered if we survived. But whatever.

A flock of six of my chicks spread out to keep an eye on the the goings-on in the chamber. Gaje was lurking in the shadow of his pillar. He stared straight in the eyes of the chick viewing him.

‘Man, will I be glad to be rid of him.’

He really was the most creepy and unnerving person in the whole mystic realm that could’ve targeted me.

I switched my sight to that of another chick. The Immortals were…my brow rose. “Are they singing?”

Rin hummed questioningly as she twirled a stalk in her hands.

“They’re chanting.”

By now, Kiran’s sudden appearance was becoming normal, so I no longer jumped out of my skin.

He pulled a sad face after seeing that I didn’t jerk.

“Chanting?” I asked.

“I can’t understand the words, but it’s making them more powerful.”

‘A mass area of effect buff?’ I exhaled. The Immortals getting stronger. Just what we needed.

At least Erri wasn’t going anywhere. Since there were only a few members of her clan left, they couldn’t defend a pillar by themselves. All of us had offered some of our own to strengthen them: Jake, Drew, and their Weapon Empire soldiers. Leah, a few other Dawnflames, some Snow Moons, the white-haired girl from the Black Fangs.

Jake and Drew had volunteered. Anyone could guess why, Erri included. Strangely enough, though, she hadn’t spoken up against them strengthening their party.

‘She must not see them as threats.’

I supposed she was capable of slaughtering the members there by herself. All they’d be able to do was buy time until either Aurille or I arrived to help.

And that was if we could arrive at all.

‘They’ll be fine.’ I turned back to Kiran. “Anything crucial you need to report?”

He waved and crossed his arms. “I was just killing time. I’ll be roaming around and helping wherever I can.”

I inclined my head. By the time my gesture finished, he was gone.

“Can’t even sense him leaving,” Rin was still staring where he’d been standing previously. “You think he ever disappears but stays around?”

“Who knows,” I said. “You should be fine if you don’t talk bad about him behind his back.”

She huffed. “I’ll say it to their face if I talk smack about someone.”

Ren shook his head.

I agreed. No manners, that girl.

‘At least she’s being upfront.’ Not sure which mannerism I preferred, to be honest.

The chamber sucked in a breath before I could consider it.

Ren stashed his energy blade. Rin grinned and stood. All but two chicks of my chicks dismissed and Ashwing stepped into the world.

The swirling energy around the central column whirled to a stop, then pulsed like a living, breathing organ. The shockwaves dove towards the ground and rippled across the grass, blowing the stalks back as if a strong wind had hit them.

Grooves appeared in the base of the Divine Beast’s column and formed a square, which depressed, spun around, and exposed the backside of the stone wherein sat four holes in the shape of a diamond.

“What are those for?” Ren asked.

“I don’t know…” I said.

The Dawnflames’s missive hadn’t contained any information about missing gem slots in the central pillar.

My stomach contracted and a disgruntling taste entered my mouth.

The Tomb returned every few hundred years. However, there was nothing saying the tests inside would stay the exact same. Egregious changes may not be possible, but alternative tests for when the system detected a bigger opposition than usual? Making things harder in that scenario would be just like it.

Bright light from my right drew my gaze. Erri’s pillar was radiating like none of the others were. Leylines running underground flared, too, so the entire connection between the central pillar and that of Erri was glowing.

The other towers’s leylines weren’t glowing.

‘Is it activating a single pillar at a time?’

The system chimed in my head.

Scenario [Divine Parentage] started! Objective: charge all four cores.

Waves Rebuffed: 0/5.

Rumbles like a glacier moving silenced any and all thoughts. Shards of ice clattered to the floor as the frost giant opened its eyes, revealing orbs of pure frost. It raised a finger.

A blizzard carved through the space. Ashwing spread her wings and shielded me from the worst of it, but the others weren’t as lucky.

I peered through the eyes of my chicks, who soared safely above the storm. The entire plane had frozen over, making the chamber similar to the Shrine of Eternity.

‘Damn.’ Was this the power of a lvl. 70 monster? It shouldn’t be capable of generating that much force unless it was being powered by the shrine. However, if it could affect an area as large as this with a single move that didn’t take any effort…how were we ever going to beat it?

Ashwing’s calm mind coursed me as she folded her wings. Her cover vanishing exposed my face to the winds. My lips pressed together. ‘I really hope the next floor is warmer.’

I’d do anything to get out of this cold. It was all I could do to not summon Saber right away. I’d need to dispel my chicks for that to work and they needed to keep an eye on the entire area until I knew what was happening.

“Three o’clock,” Kiran’s voice came over the blizzard.

My chicks zoomed in on the area. Nearby Erri’s pillar, tendrils of frost were growing from the ground and rapidly forming into towering shapes.

‘Those look like the beast Raven killed.’

I was too far away to identify them, but the tall golems couldn’t be anything but. There were fifteen of them. Raven told us they ranged between level thirty and forty, which would’ve been fine if they were the only creatures who’d spawned.

Frog-like creatures that had horn growing out the sides of their bulbous heads. Avian beasts whose wings were glued to their arms—the strange part about them was that hey had humanoid faces but a beak in place of a mouth.

All of them charged Erri’s position.

‘That’s too many for them too handle.’

Their group had around forty people. Most of them were below level twenty-five.

I glanced over my shoulder. ‘Should I pick up Aurille?’

Maybe not. The second wave may start before we dealt with this one. If that happened, and Aurille’s pillar was the one under attack, I’d need to move her back. And the distance between the pillars would take time to cross, even flying on Ashwing.

The person closest to Erri’s pillar were the Immortals. My chick stared at Aedan, who was sitting and enjoying a cup of tea the colour of blood…together with Kayle. Aedan looked up and waved at my summon.

Right. They wouldn’t be moving. The more of us died during the shrine, the better they’d be off. Kayle also wouldn’t do anything showing up by herself.

I sighed. “I’m heading towards Erri.”

“What if this pillar starts being assaulted, too?” Ren asked.

“Then we kill the monsters,” Rin yawned.

The boy deadpanned. “I get that. But what if they’re too strong?”

“We run,” Rin shrugged.

Ren paused, then turned towards me in hopes of salvation.

My shoulders touched my earlobes. “She’s right. Nothing you can do but run if that happens.”

Still, this was shaping up to be a bigger problem than we’d thought. I already had to move, and this was only the first wave. If the subsequent waves were more dangerous than this…

‘Think about it later.’ For now, I had to help the others.

I leapt onto Ashwing’s back. She took off. Because the pillars were so far away from each other, flying between the different locations took minutes. Luckily, the monsters hadn’t spawned on top of the others. By the time the first wave of frost constructs slammed into the defending squadron, I was nearly at the site.

Arrows crafted from light soared through the sky and burnt holes in the wings of the avian beasts. Erri’s serpents devoured the smallest of the monster in a single bite, and the makeshift frontline of disciples formed into a circle. There were more beasts than there were disciples capable of defending the charge. However, our side performed admirable.

The beasts were more brawn than brain, so when the Snow Moons crafted obstacles in their path, they didn’t dodge. That dealt with the brunt of the enemy forces and gave the tanks enough room to do their job.

Until the golems began hurling boulders. My face scrunched up as I watched one of the rocks smash a tank who couldn’t get his spell up in time into paste.

‘I’ll head into the backline.’

The horde had left the boulder-hurling golems without protection.

Saber shot out of a portal and darted ahead. Three of the golems whirled towards him. Frozen grass and earth shot into the air as the cat weaved through the projectiles.

I grabbed a tuft of feathers and leaned forwards. “Dive, girl.”

Ashwing’s nose tipped down. The icy winds cut on her beak and blew back my ponytail. I did not draw my blade.

‘Let’s see how strong these can bind.’

Another two golems turned towards us. My heart skipped a beat, but Ashwing was no slouch when it came to aerial battles. She struck the sky, tilted sideways, and let the boulder pass under her belly. She dove sharper and dipped below the second missile, then curved upwards along the ground.

“Good girl,” I whispered.

I enhanced the energy gathering in her wings. The flame cutter spun as it launched and whistled. The flaming blade carved through the golem’s knee, sending the beast tumbling.

Flame cutters fired left and right. More golems turned away from the other disciples and towards us.

Saber leapt and crashed into one’s leg. While he didn’t cut through the limb like Ashwing, he had enough momentum to topple the monster anyway. He immediately lunged in for another strike.

Essence pooled in my palms. Ashwing brought us low enough we came face-to-face with the golems.

Boulders turned to melee weapons in their hands and they tried to slap us out of the air. Ashwing swerved around their sloppy attacks.

‘They’re more adept at throwing than hitting.’

I held out my arm as Ashwing shot past a golem. ‘Recreation.’ The branch ripped from my hands to wrap around the monster’s feet. ‘Contract.’

The veritable rope snapped the beast’s feet together and broke its balance. The earth shook when the golem landed.

My other hand shot out and did the same to another monster, then I had Ashwing curve up and out of the fight so I could inspect my work.

Thick legs trembled and strained but couldn’t break my branches.

‘Good.’

Ashwing turned back around for another strike—

Getting most of the golems to focus on me had relieved pressure off the main squad. Erri’s serpent rammed into one of the beasts I had downed.

The drake princess rode the head of a snake that must be four of her beasts merged into one. Construct and rider stopped a little ways away from the battle. The snake’s head curved up so Erri looked down on the entire cast of golems.

She sent a glance my way. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

“Trust me,” I said. “I’m not here to help you.”

An arrow hummed high enough to roar past me. The missile soared until it was right above the golems, then exploded into a rain of light arrows. They melted straight through the golems.

‘He’s skilled.’

Jake’s abilities were strong, but he was also precise. The arrows didn’t strike Saber. Any that threatened to do so dissolved before actually burying into his skin. They didn’t dissipate for Erri’s serpents though, which had me swallow a chuckle.

A look back at the main squad told me they’d taken care of all the beasts.

‘Right. Guess that’s the first wave—’

Another blizzard struck the land.

Eyes wide, I spun towards the frost giant king, who was again pointing.

Pillars in the dozens burst from the ground and formed into a myriad of creatures. But that wasn’t all. The bodies of the constructs we’d destroyed repaired themselves with visible speed.

In heartbeats, all of the monsters had returned. Together with the more than fifty newcomers.

Holding my breath, I turned towards the system screen.

Waves Rebuffed: 0/5.

We might be screwed.