The Systemic Lands

Chapter 256: Day 535 (5) – Forced To Retreat

I watched the Astrologer act to take the Ritualist out. He flew through the air like a bullet. Monsters appeared in his path which he easily avoided. The Astrologer swung out with one of his gloved hands. Even at this distance I could hear the grinding sound and saw the white light as the Astrologer was stopped by a barrier.

He was then maneuvered up into the air, clearly held in place by something with his arms splayed out to the side. I saw the Astrologer and a werewolf speaking, but I didn’t hear what was being said as my curiosity rose even higher.

The Astrologer suddenly disappeared. Moments later the coffin exploded, and the Ritualist went tumbling along the ground. His monsters were still moving and under his control and I chose to wait and see what would happen. Monsters swarmed the Astrologer from every direction.

Space seemed to crack around him. The visuals of the area around him were offset. Hybrids died and summons were dusted as he rose up into the air. The Astrologer had quickly gotten into the air. That was when a were-sword dervish chopped off his right hand. I saw a glowing stump left behind and no blood.

The Astrologer shouted some words that I didn’t hear except for the last part. “Null Refraction Shatter!” White glowing triangles formed around the Astrologer. They spun around and shot forward at the Ritualist. His monsters got in the way. Several of his metal men were cut through, but the glowing triangles were stopped.

One managed to slip through and intersected with the Ritualist for a brief moment, before impacting the ground behind him. He stumbled backwards. The Astrologer disappeared, vanishing in mid-air. I glanced back at the Ritualist and could see he had lost his arm and was bleeding from his head.

His monsters froze. It was time to act, I had around 200 energy at the moment. More than enough for what I needed to do. I leapt from the wall, plummeting towards the ground, the wall behind me. I kicked off the wall and shot forward. I couldn’t make out the Ritualist by the wall of monsters that had formed around him.

I went for the chests and other supplies on the super worm in the back. The Ritualist had brought it forward for when he summoned the pulsing red worms to be unleashed into the city. That had been a major tactical mistake. You don’t risk your supplies in the midst of the battle. After the Ritualist himself, I put his supplies as the second most important target.

“Air Burst!” I reached into my harness and threw out two brown force bombs the sides and in front of me. They exploded, crushing the super worm between them. Pinning it in place as the bombs detonated in the air. The bombs also pushed back the other monster.

I slowed down in the air from the effects of the force bombs and landed on top the super worm, the Ritualist had been using to transport his supplies. He had made a huge tactical error bringing it close enough to the wall I could reach it with a single Air Burst.

I tossed three bombs, one brown, one white, and one gray, in front of me. I kicked off the worm. “Air Burst!” I soared back towards the wall. The bombs detonated behind me. A storm of energy exploded outwards. The catches of supplies, primed summoning crystals, primed crafting crystals. It all went up.

There was a bright light behind me, but I didn’t dare look back. “Air Burst!” I soared upwards. The monsters in the sky were distracted with whatever was happening with the Ritualist. “Air Burst!” I used up the last of my energy to gain enough height to grab the top of the wall and pull myself back up.

I looked back at the destruction I had wrought. The super worm laid dead, and the Ritualists primary supply train had been destroyed during the time he was wounded and distracted. I would take that as a huge win. I had no doubt that if I had gone for his body he would have been much more on his game in terms of defense, since that was where all his mobile forces were concentrated.

The Astrologer got some respect for wounding the Ritualist and being quite useful. He had created the opening I had just used and my side had gained a huge win in terms of triumphing over the Ritualist in terms of attrition.

I looked at the crystals strewn about, and many of them had broken apart, fueling the massive explosion. Doctor Katz had been right. It was a bad idea to cross the streams. Energy was volatile like that when combined willy nilly. The superworm was somehow still alive. I had no idea how, since it was at ground zero, but it was still moving, and its outer carapace had only been slightly shattered.

That was clearly another one of the Ritualist’s trump cards. An annoying one. I regret not having more energy to use Acid Shot while I was on the super monster. I had honestly thought the explosions and combined energy attacks would have killed it. But only a couple of the armored panels were destroyed and the flesh beneath was only bleeding slightly.

The Ritualist was already being moved into another coffin and monsters were in place to shield him from view. It was unfortunate but I wasn’t able to get him directly. I wasn’t at the point where I would be willing to attempt a suicide attack to take him out.

Regardless, I was quite happy with my accomplishment of taking of taking out the Ritualist’s supply train. Now we just needed to hold out long enough to win. I could only hope that the other gates could take out the worms undermining the walls. If those were dealt with before the walls fell down, it would be a huge win for my side.

We also needed to hold the plaza from the earlier attack the Ritualist sent in that direction. I was temped to go back and help but I would get there too late. Better to intercept anything the Ritualist did at this point.

From what I could tell the Ritualist was doing nothing, or more likely taking stock of the situation after his injury. It was tempting to leave but holding the Ritualist in check was by far the best thing I could do at the moment. The plaza would have to hold out on its own.

I looked back towards the plaza, but I was too far away to make out anything clearly. The large pulsing red worms were still there which wasn’t a good sign. I checked my bombs. I only had two left. One brown and one white. I would have to make them count, or at the very least not get caught up in a misfire.

Perhaps I should have thrown some bombs at the Ritualist when I attacked earlier. No, that wouldn’t have worked. The problem was all the monsters protecting his physical body. They would have intercepted any attack. Better to go for the supplies, than risk the opportunity the Astrologer made on an attack with a small chance of success, however tempting it might be.

I glanced back at the plaza again and couldn’t help but worry. That was the hard part about all of this. I couldn’t be everywhere at once. Still, being here and waiting had paid off once already. The longer I waited the more my energy would come back as well. That was give me a greater chance to have an impact directly against my opponent.

I knew it was a hard fight, but if they couldn’t win right now, then we had no chance long term. The Ritualist had committed a sizable portion of his army to the plaza and resources. If they could hold without me returning or the City Shield, then we would force the Ritualist to send even more forces.

There was something nearby. “Peace,” the Astrologer appeared a distance to the side with his hands spread out to the side. While not hands, since he was missing his right hand. The sleeve of his black robe was draped over the end.

“Neat trick,” I replied, and he shook his hooded head. The Astrologer was still super suspicious, but he had earned my respect for actually putting himself on the line and backing up his words, even if it was later than he said he would act. Probably waiting for the best time to act just like I would. So I wouldn’t ding him too much for that, since his help was unexpected in the first place.

“The disappearing and floating act are simple tricks. Striking the Ritualist was a bit of a better one, but I failed,” the Astrologer said heavily and turned to look out over the wall at where the Ritualist had set up.

“Thank you for creating the opening at least,” I said. No need to be rude to a mysterious helpful figure. I wasn’t about to do anything for them. But a word of thanks cost me nothing.

“No thanks are needed. I failed and am wounded.” The Astrologer paused for a bit but I didn’t say anything. “I can no longer help here. I need preserve what strength I have left. All the reckless bombs will have drawn attention. I must attend to the border. We shall talk once we meet again.”

“What is at the border?” I asked curious. We had a border, with whom and why?

“A horrible boot waiting to crush us all beneath it. Just a final warning, Champion Michael. The Ritualist has done something incredibly stupid. He has merged his physical body with level 4 crystals. Contaminating his energy and fueling his power. My wounding him, only spread up the process. But in time the Ritualist will become a…I guess I need a new term. No one has ever merged three level 4 crystals into themselves before,” the Astrologer said. That was a lot of info to process all at once, but I focused on the most important thing.

“What sort of powers?” I asked. If this Astrologer was leaving, then I needed to know what I was up against.

“If I had to guess, I would say he has used the level 4 crystals from the Refraction Orb. He will be able to shield himself against most energy based attacks. The Puppet Master for his vast mastery of tether manipulation. The last one I am unsure about, but probably something focused on mental attacks, specifically depression,” the Astrologer explained with a sigh. None of that sounded good.

“Any weaknesses?” I asked.

“He cannot use the store anymore and time will only make his situation worse. Or not. It is hard to say. Summoning fails at the higher levels since the energy of the monsters contains their will, however weak and small it is. A summoner would battle this will or try to usurp it. That is impossible, for complex reasons. Like mixing oil and water, they don’t combine easily to a single substance. What you need to know, is that as he takes damage, his body will consume the level 4 crystals embedded inside of him, to repair himself. He will need to be killed twice. Don’t delay too long and win. I will return then,” the Astrologer said and floated off the top of the wall. Good to know there would be a phase two in my upcoming boss battle.

“Thanks for the heads up. I do hope we can speak again sometime,” I said as he waved left hand before disappearing into the air.

So, the Ritualist was juicing himself with level 4 monsters and would probably become some horrific monstrosity if he took enough damage. A second form. I was glad the Astrologer had warned me. Still, that did nothing to fix or help the current situation as all I could do was to keep waiting and trust that the people in the plaza could win.