Chapter 345: Honorable Challenge

[Third Wave will begin shortly.]

Kael’s hand stopped inches from the golem cannon.

The warning remained at the edge of his vision, calm and almost polite despite everything it implied.

The second wave was nowhere near finished.

Goblins still blanketed the plains from the foot of the fortress to the distant horizon. Thousands clung to the walls. Thousands more continued firing arrows and stones toward the battlements, while the bodies of their dead were crushed beneath an army too numerous to slow down.

Yet the Tower was already preparing to send the next wave.

"So much for resting between attacks," Kael muttered.

A deeper sound rolled through the goblin shrieks.

Not a horn.

Footsteps.

Heavy enough to be felt through the fortress walls.

The goblin lines began shifting.

Entire formations moved aside, opening broad paths through the countless bodies. The creatures did not stop attacking the fortress, but they scrambled to clear the center of the battlefield, shoving one another out of the way as larger figures emerged from behind them.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

The newcomers towered over the ordinary goblins.

They were even larger than the hobgoblins from the first wave, with shoulders broad enough to make their heads look strangely small. Thick muscles covered their arms, chests, and backs, each creature appearing to possess more mass than three hobgoblins combined.

Their skin ranged from deep green to dark gray. Heavy tusks curved from their lower jaws, while crude scars had been carved across exposed flesh. Unlike the goblins, they wore proper armor. Iron plates had been strapped across their torsos, shoulders, and thighs, reinforced with hides and bones taken from creatures large enough that Kael did not want to imagine them alive.

Most carried enormous axes, cleavers, and spiked clubs.

A few dragged weapons so large that the heads carved trenches through the battlefield behind them.

They were numerous.

Not even a fraction of the goblin army, but still enough to form several large companies moving toward each side of the fortress.

Goblin soldiers stepped aside wherever they passed.

No one needed to order them.

One orc shoved a goblin out of its path without looking down. The smaller creature flew several feet, struck the ground, and disappeared beneath the feet of those behind it.

"Damn it."

The burly climber rushed along the wall toward Kael’s section. His enormous sword was covered in goblin blood, and several arrows had embedded themselves harmlessly in the layers of hide across his armor.

He cut down two goblins attempting to climb over the battlement, then came to a stop beside Kael.

"Need help?"

Kael pointed toward the massive figures advancing through the goblin ranks.

"What are those?"

The burly man stared at him.

"Orcs."

"I gathered they weren’t goblins."

"You don’t know orcs?"

"Nah. They weren’t close enough for Inspect yet." Kael watched the leading formation pass through the scorched remains left by the first cannon test. "Any good in combat?"

"Far scarier than hobgoblins."

"That good?"

"Very strong. Faster than something that size should be, too. Their armor isn’t decorative, and most of them know how to use those weapons."

Kael watched one orc raise its axe and casually knock aside several goblins blocking its route.

"I guess they’re worth a good amount of contribution."

"They should be. Orcs are usually elites."

Kael smiled beneath his helmet.

"Then we’ll have to welcome them."

"Stop what you’re doing!"

The Leonard’s voice cut through the fighting.

Kael turned.

The golden-haired climber stood several dozen paces away, surrounded by the remains of goblins he had cleaved apart with his battle-axe. His armor had been struck by several arrows, though none appeared to have penetrated. One of his newly upgraded ballistae continued firing behind him, while the soldiers operating it struggled to remain protected beneath a wall of raised shields.

Kael looked at him.

"Why? Got another way to sabotage us?"

"No."

The Leonard struck a goblin with the back of his axe and sent it tumbling over the wall.

"Orcs are stupid. Ridiculously stupid. If you issue a challenge, they’ll accept it."

"A challenge?"

"One-on-one combat. We go down and duel their strongest warriors. While a challenge is taking place, they’ll force the rest of the army to stop attacking."

Kael looked toward the field.

The orcs continued approaching through the goblin lines. Behind them, the countless smaller creatures were still climbing, firing arrows, and dying beneath the fortress defenses.

"We can stall the wave," the Leonard continued. "The soldiers get time to rest. We recover the wounded and repair the damage while we fight the orcs one at a time."

The burly man frowned.

"That actually works?"

"Yes. I was taught this strategy."

The Leonard looked directly at Kael.

"And unlike repairing ancient junk, this is how you’re supposed to exploit this floor. Orcs care about honor. Challenge them properly and the entire attack stops until the duel is resolved."

Kael returned his attention to the battlefield.

The third wave had not fully begun yet, but the Tower had already announced it. The orcs were still moving into position, and the goblins had shown no indication that they were stopping.

Even if the Leonard was telling the truth, something about the strategy felt wrong.

"The battle stalling isn’t in our favor," Kael said.

The Leonard stared at him in disbelief.

"No, it is. This is the best possible thing to happen in this situation. We allow the defenders time to rest and recover while we fight the orcs in challenges."

"Dumbass."

"Why are you insulting me?" the Leonard snapped. "I’m not lying."

Kael placed his right hand against the golem cannon.

The metal responded.

A faint red pattern emerged beneath his gauntlet. Thin lines crawled outward from his palm, spreading through the dark barrel like a glowing network of veins.

The process was slow.

Painfully slow.

Kael kept his hand pressed in place while watching the orcs advance.

"We get to rest, right?" he asked.

"Yes."

"We recover the injured and repair the walls."

"Right."

"We regain mana, stamina, and internal energy."

The Leonard spread his arms. "That’s what I’m telling you."

Kael looked at him.

"But you think only we get to do that?"

The Leonard’s expression shifted.

Kael continued before he could answer.

"You think challenging the orcs one at a time will stop their army from recovering? You think the goblins won’t reorganize? That their archers won’t replenish their ammunition or that the orcs won’t use the time to gather outside every gate?"

"That isn’t how the challenge works."

"You said it stops the attack. You didn’t say it sends them away."

The red matrix continued spreading along the cannon.

It passed through the firing chamber and reached the first reinforcing ring.

"While you’re standing outside having an honorable little fight, the second wave remains here," Kael said. "The third wave finishes gathering behind it, and the fourth might start moving before we’re done."

The burly climber looked toward the horizon.

Understanding slowly crossed his face.

"We’d be letting the waves stack."

"Exactly."

The Leonard shook his head. "That’s not guaranteed."

"Neither is your strategy."

"I know this floor better than you!"

"You knew enough to steal everyone’s currency, hide the contribution requirement, and build defenses that did nothing for the entire first wave."

The Leonard tightened his grip around his axe.

Kael’s voice hardened.

"No wonder your strategy sucks. You’re the bigger idiot for thinking that stalling the orcs means stalling the Tower. You’re not buying time. You’re tightening the noose around your neck and inviting more people to pull it."

The matrix reached the front of the barrel.

Nearly complete.

The Leonard looked between Kael and the approaching orcs.

"You can’t kill all of those."

"I don’t need to."

Kael focused on the weapon.

The red lines joined at the muzzle, completing the circuit throughout the cannon.

The golem metal creaked.

Heft settled into the structure first, making the entire weapon press more heavily against its reinforced wheels. The stone beneath it cracked as its weight increased.

Then Fire entered.

Heat gathered throughout the barrel, not burning the metal, but saturating every section of it with violent internal pressure.

Kael waited.

The leading orcs entered the blackened region created by the cannon’s previous test.

More followed.

They marched over glassed stone and scorched earth, unaware that the destruction beneath their feet had come from the weapon now aimed at them.

Kael adjusted the barrel.

The soldiers nearby recognized what he was about to do.

They began backing away.

The officer who had witnessed the first test shouted, "Clear the weapon!"

Men abandoned the nearby battlements and threw themselves behind the reinforced tower ballistae. Those operating the cannon farther down the wall covered their ears and crouched behind its wheels.

The Leonard’s eyes widened.

"What are you doing?"

Kael pushed his internal energy into the cannon.

The weapon detonated.

The explosion was louder than the first.

Sound struck the battlements like a physical force. Soldiers were thrown from their feet. Shields clattered across the stone. The burly climber planted his enormous sword into the rampart and held onto it while the shockwave pushed against his body.

Every goblin clinging to the northern wall lost its grip.

Hundreds fell at once.

Some tumbled into the army below. Others struck protruding stones on the way down, their bodies spinning before disappearing beneath the masses gathered at the base.

The cannon’s mouth split apart.

Dark metal peeled backward like the skin of an overripe fruit, opening around the released force.

The fireball emerged.

It was not a spell anyone could mistake for an ordinary attack.

A sphere of compressed flame ten times larger than anything Kael’s gauntlet could produce tore across the battlefield. The bright inferno moved like a meteor launched horizontally, dragging a stream of burning air behind it.

The goblins beneath its path ignited before it even touched them.

Rows of small bodies burst into flame as the heat passed overhead.

Then the projectile reached the orcs.

Most of the formation had stepped onto the scorched ground.

The fireball struck directly in their center.

The world turned white.

An enormous explosion consumed the battlefield.

Flame expanded outward in a roaring dome, swallowing orcs, goblins, and everything else within range. The earth ruptured beneath the pressure. Armor softened, flesh burned, and enormous bodies were thrown into the air as though they weighed nothing.

The nearest orcs disappeared completely.

Those at the center were reduced to scorched fragments and liquid remains before they could understand they had been attacked. Weapons melted into twisted pieces. Organs burst. Thick bones shattered beneath pressure and heat.

The creatures around the edge survived only in the loosest sense of the word.

One orc emerged from the flames missing an arm and half of its face. It took two staggering steps before collapsing.

Another had been torn open from shoulder to waist, its blackened entrails dragging behind it as it attempted to crawl.

A small number remained standing farther from the center, but their armor glowed red, their skin had burned away in broad sections, and most no longer possessed the strength to raise their weapons.

Every goblin near the orc formation died instantly.

Thousands more were thrown away from the blast.

Burning bodies rose into the sky and fell across the army. Some struck creatures hundreds of feet from the explosion. Others landed against the fortress wall, leaving trails of flame and blood across the stone.

The shockwave reached the northern battlements.

Hot wind rolled over Kael.

Dust, ash, and scraps of burned flesh filled the air.

For several moments, no one spoke.

Even the goblin army had gone strangely quiet around the crater.

The Leonard stared at the destruction.

Kael’s internal energy had fallen violently, leaving his channels aching and his right arm trembling. He leaned one hand against the cannon for support while its ruined muzzle began repairing itself.

The dark metal shuddered.

Peeled sections folded inward. Cracks sealed. The firing mouth reformed as the golem material remembered the shape Brokk’s Hammer had given it.

Within moments, the cannon stood ready again.

Kael looked toward the Leonard.

"I’m better off resting after I’m done killing."

A number flashed at the edge of his vision.

Kael opened his contribution total.

[Contribution: 27,600]

His score had more than tripled.

The orcs had indeed been worth far more than ordinary goblins, and the blast had killed enough of both groups to launch Kael far beyond his previous ranking.

His currency rose alongside it.

Enough to clear the reserve they had agreed upon.

Enough to raise the ballistae that the Leonard had been obstructing.

Enough to begin improving the cannon if he chose.

Kael dismissed the notification and turned toward his defenses.

"And now I get to upgrade my stuff."