Defense of the Dark Tower
“Carve a wound of nothingness; let the foundation of this world be sundered. Reality Tear.” With a sweep of your hand, you conjure your new magic. A thin black line materializes in front of you. It runs across the glyph, the incoming wave of energy, and the man responsible for the attack. There is a loud crack as the bisected world slides slightly apart, misaligned along the black line, before snapping back together. The glyph shatters, the wave is dispersed, and the man has an expression of confusion that is slowly parted by a deep red line gradually widening down the middle of his face. He falls, split exactly in half by your spell like a chopped up chicken on a butcher’s block. His steaming entrails are dumped all over the polished gray floor along with the unidentifiable contents of whatever he had eaten before so rudely attacking your territory. You idly wonder if there are enough goblins left to clean up the place. The sublime scent of gore sends a familiar tingle down your spine, but it is quickly suppressed. It is nothing you cannot handle by now, after all this time in this body.
The two women accompanying the man seem too surprised at his sudden death to even scream, let alone attack you in revenge for their fallen comrade. Though you had decided to spare them, judging from the sounds of fighting outside it looks like the invasion is not yet over; the enemy still has bodies to throw at you. With a wave of your hand you lull them into a deep magical sleep – an easy task, when they are not fighting back and shocked into immobility. The spell will hold until you manage to get everything back under control and can devote more of your attention to them.
But it would not do to leave them lying on the floor, right where their dead companion’s blood could stain their delicate faces. Taking a few extra minutes to make sure everything is perfect, you stash the two in a corner and incinerate the unsightly remains of the man.
“Well, that’s that,” you mutter, activating Universal Translation to make sure you can properly mock any enemies you encounter on your way out. “Barbatos! Awaken!”
The demonic gauntlet responds immediately. “Oh, art we back in business already, boy? Magnificent! Guhahahahaha!”
“You certainly woke up quite quickly,” you say. “I thought I would have to knock you around a bit before you started talking again.”
“In matters of long slumber I am highly experienced, young angel,” gloats Barbatos. “That was no more than a brief wink of an eye, all things considered. Still, I would appreciate it if you would no longer go diving into warded territory before ascertaining the danger.”
“A minor oversight. Worry not, it shan’t happen again. Now, first things first…” Raising your head to the hole in the ceiling, you stretch your wings and flap. You have not had much experience with flight, particularly with these set of feathered appendages, but it comes to you as naturally as if you had known how all your life. You lift off the ground and soar up, through the roof and to the very top of the tower.
There, you have the perfect vantage point. You see with your own eyes that the gray tower is now but the peak of a massive, sprawling fortress of black iron. The fortress is aflame, as is the forest around it. Countless figures, as tiny as ants at this distance, are battling all along the tall, dark walls. You can make out the flags and pennants of the human soldiers, engaged in combat with the smooth, pale forms of the golem army you had heard about. Here and there, scattered about the fortress, are groups of goblins who appear to be acting as commanding units for the golems. You manage to spot Runde amongst one of those squads, wearing a tall hat familar in size and shape and waving a staff around. He is mounted on Lucy, herself covered in horned iron plates that made her look positively menacing. Further out in the burning forest, you see a multi-coloured wave of slimes assaulting the enemy’s encampment along with a small army of bandits that appears to be Fortunio’s men. So far the conditions on both fronts appear to be in a stalemate, with not much headway being made by either side.
“How about it, boy? Shall we go in smashing and punching? You haven’t had much occasion to use your fist in a long time. This is a good opportunity for practice!”
You watch over the battlefield again, then decide to…
***
A. Assist Runde and Lucy first. You need to secure your walls and ensure the enemy does not penetrate further into your fortress.
B. Assist the slimes and Fortunio first. The enemy forces will be thrown into chaos if their encampment is destroyed.
1. You will join the fight personally, fighting in the thick of things. Barbatos is right, you might need a bit more exercise to warm yourself up.
2. Why go to such hassle when you can just bombard the enemies with your spells from the top of the tower? It would be quicker, too.
***
C. You do not see Zayan anywhere, though knowing her, she is probably somewhere deep within the fortress. You decide to find and secure her first before doing anything about the battle.