System Change

Things were quiet over the next five days. Derek had returned to Savannah and told everyone what happened at the teleportation array. After his fight with ‘The Indomitable,’ Derek was feeling a little better about everything. Sure, the centaur was lower on the Champions list, but Derek was almost certain that Avery would have been able to beat him in a one-on-one fight. Then again, Avery just happened to be a good match for someone with ‘The Indomitable’s’ fighting style.

So, once Derek returned, he stayed connected with everyone on the continent, and they all mostly observed everything. Occasionally, Derek would go to one of the arrays and look around for other Champions, but he was never able to find any.

He did stumble upon a couple of sizable armies with high-ranked soldiers during his scouting. It was hard for him not to draw attention since everyone was able to sense him easily when he got too close. Instead of attacking the armies as soon as he saw them, he let them keep going and just stayed vigilant.

One army was making its way to Eloria, and the other was moving to Savannah. He would have taken them out, but decided against it. Other than the Guardians, everyone else who was there to defend the Strongholds needed to understand that the invasion was real and that these armies were just the beginning.

The soldiers of Indria that Derek had seen seemed to be a bit lax in their guard. That’s what happens whenever an invasion is announced, then nothing more is heard about it for five days. However, seeing people actually attack should be a wake-up call—even if they are entirely unsuccessful.

One thing that Derek was happy about, however, was the fact that the armies avoided the smaller cities and villages as they marched. He would have stepped in the second they tried to hit a village, but, surprisingly, they never did.

He wasn’t sure if there were some kind of rules on their side preventing it, or if those leading the forces just happened to be against the idea. The notes at the end of the rules did, however, make it seem like the systems wanted to keep those who were not participating safe—at least inside the Stronghold.

On the sixth day, the first army arrived within sight of Savannah.

“Finally!” Braxton shouted as he slung his warhammer over his shoulder. “I’ve been looking forward to having a little fun.”

“I don’t consider my city being attacked ‘fun,’” Natalie replied.“Your city isn’t going to be attacked,” Braxton said. “I’ll be the wall they hit before they even get inside the magic circle.”

“You better,” Natalie replied. She had wanted to send her army of adventurers and mercenaries out to meet the army, but Braxton had pretty much vetoed that idea. Instead, he wanted to demonstrate the might of a Guardian to deter any future armies that were ‘less than.’ He thought it was ridiculous for an army to try to capture a Stronghold without having the power of a Champion or two within its midst.

“We’re not going to be like those people from that other Stronghold,” Braxton said. “Getting conquered without even making a Champion fight is pitiful.”

“We don’t know what happened there,” Derek said. “It was within the first half hour since the invasion. It’s very possible that there was a large attack that caught the city and those two Guardians completely unprepared. Don’t get cocky.”

“Don’t get cocky?” Braxton looked at Derek and tilted his head in confusion. “You’re telling me not to get cocky? What about you?”

“I’m stronger than you,” Derek said with a shrug. “And I’ve already defeated a Champion while being surrounded by soldiers. And I have Silvi to help me whenever I want… I can be cocky.”

“Bah…” Braxton said. “I’ll show you cocky!” The dwarf then turned his head and shouted, “Come on, archer boy! Let’s show that other side that they’re fighting a losing battle.”

“Fine…” Avery sighed. “What’s the plan?”

“Well,” Derek said. “They didn’t do any raiding or plundering or anything on their way here, so I would prefer it if you didn’t just kill them all. Let them retreat if it looks like they want to. However, don’t do so if it means putting yourselves at risk. They are the ones invading, after all. Still… they are doing it under the orders of a system, just like we are.”

“But they are the ones who accepted the mission to come and do so,” Natalie pointed out.

“True,” Derek replied. “Rewards will do that. And like I said, don’t do anything that will get you in trouble. I just meant that if they run away, it would probably be for the best not to chase them down and kill them. You know, unless there happens to be a Champion mixed in. If there is… they are fair game.”

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“Oh…” Braxton rubbed the head of his warhammer. “I hope there is one. He can show me his best impersonation of a nail.”

“Are we going or not?” Avery asked. “They aren’t too far away from the blue circle now. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it before they get within the Stronghold’s limits.”

“Then what are you still doing talking?” Braxton said, then he jumped off the wall and down to the ground. Derek couldn’t help but wonder about the weight of the man’s hammer, as the small crater that he made when he landed just seemed too big for the man.

“No headshots, I guess,” Avery said. Then he turned to Derek and smiled. “I do hope they give us at least somewhat of a challenge. I was getting pretty bored, too.”

“Who knows?” Derek said with a shrug. “There may be a strong one or two mixed into the bunch.”

The next moment, Avery’s bow appeared in his right hand, and then a pair of dragon wings sprouted from his back. “Lyra’s on standby,” he said. “Putting her up against an army like this would just be mean.” After that, he jumped off the wall and floated down until he landed right beside Braxton.

Derek hopped up onto the edge of the wall and took a seat. “You two might as well enjoy the show,” he said as he turned and looked at Natalie and Stella. “I think Braxton has the right idea. Getting wiped out by two Guardians should deter any armies that aren’t sure of themselves.” It will also let me go around and explore more of the arrays, he thought, but didn’t say out loud.

Both Stella and Natalie took a seat on the wall’s edge, just like Derek. The scene was a very interesting one. Three people sat high up on a city wall overlooking a dwarf and a human, making their way toward an army of at least 200 level 225+ fighters.

“Dammit… I always forget popcorn…”

***

“They are just over one mile out from the magic circle,” Nyx said to Osian as they stood on a tall tree overlooking what may soon become a battlefield.

“I think that should be good enough,” Osian replied. “Is Mara ready?”

“She’s always ready,” Nyx said.

“I was really looking forward to a fight,” Edgar said. “That’s why I came here. Savannah already has Derek and Braxton. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get in on anything there. But now… this?”

“It is better this way,” Osian replied. “We’ll let a few go so they can spread the news.”

“I still think you should let me lead the soldiers into a real fight to prepare them for later,” Edgar said.

“No,” Osian said. “They are good soldiers. Just seeing the attack will be enough to show them that there is a real threat. They will be ready.”

“If you say so,” Edgar replied.

“Okay, Nyx,” Osian said, shifting the conversation to the masked figure. “Let’s see how well your plan works.” The next moment, he grabbed his communication crystal and sent a message to Ryven. Then he said, “Ten seconds.”

Osian held both of his hands out and began channeling his energy. Inside his head, he counted down. When he reached zero, he released his skill.

The invaders were just under a mile away from Eloria at that moment. When Osian activated his skill, an invisible wall formed in front of them. A few of the soldiers walked into the barrier before everyone realized that something was going on. After that, they started to panic.

Some invaders tried to run back from where they came—only to realize that there was another barrier blocking their escape. Eventually, they realized they were surrounded by a barrier on all sides. Finally, they looked up.

“Go,” Nyx said from the tree.

Moments later, the roar of a dragon rang out. Blitz shot up from within the forest, then out towards the trapped soldiers. If one looked closely enough, they would see a small figure in a white robe standing on the wyvern’s back. The figure was a woman with silver-gray hair and dull white eyes. She was Mara from the Assassin’s Guild.

The soldiers below were all panicking as the wyvern approached. They were trapped in a box, and the only way out was up, but in the sky was a dragon. Soon enough, Blitz flew directly over the soldiers. Instead of lightning breath or any of the other attacks one would expect from the wyvern, small, round objects began to fall.

All in all, ten objects fell to the ground. Blitz disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared. Seeing that the dragon was gone, multiple people tried to jump or fly out of the barriers, only to realize that, in their shock and horror, there was now a barrier above them.

Moments later, the ten objects that had fallen from the wyvern exploded, and a gray mist appeared. On the tree overseeing everything play out, Osian slowly brought his hands together, and everyone watched as the barriers began to close in.

Soon, the box was just big enough to hold the couple of hundred people that were trapped, and the only thing visible through the barrier was the gray mist. “Panic is the biggest enemy an army like that can have,” Osian said. “The barriers on top and behind aren’t too strong, as they aren’t being cast by me. A handful of concentrated attacks on that back barrier and it’s possible they would break through.”

“Yeah…” Edgar said with a sigh. “You try that after running into your barrier and then seeing a dragon flying above you.”

“Like I said,” Osian replied, “Panic will get you every time.”

“All those barrier runes and communication blockers within the kingdom probably have everyone on edge as it is,” Edgar said. “It’s a good thing we didn’t have to attack Eloria to end the war with you.”

“Yeah…” Osian snorted. “A lot of good those did. You can’t prepare for a monster to just appear five feet in front of you.”

“Don’t I know it?” Edgar said with a chuckle. “What now?” Edgar and Osian turned to Nyx.

“Three more minutes,” Nyx said. Soon, those three minutes passed, and Nyx said, “You may release the barriers.”

Osian let out a breath, then released his skill and deactivated any of the barrier runes that had been active. The mist instantly floated into the air and soon vanished. All that was left were around 200 invaders, all fallen to the ground and unconscious.

Next, multiple elves appeared around the invaders and began searching everyone. Soon enough, all the invaders were left with nothing but their underclothes—their storage items, weapons, and even armor had all been taken from them.

“Take five of them,” Nyx said. “Put the rest in the dungeon.” Osian channeled some of his energy into his communication crystal, giving the command.

“You know, Nyx,” Edgar said. “You’re evil.”

“Terror works wonders,” Nyx said with a shrug, then left it at that.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to be those five,” Edgar said.

“They will be fine…” Nyx said. “Probably.”