Chapter 283: My Lord, Push Forward!
Raegar continued through the Gate, following the feeling that led him this far. While traveling, he looked at the blue knights that circled him, feeling unnerved by their silence, only for Arthur to chuckle. ’’They are your soldiers, my lord.’’
’’I know, but I’m not used to the Tier Nine power radiating off them,’’ he responded. ’’It’s new.’’
’’You’ll get used to it by the time we get the second Fusion Knight,’’ Arthur reassured.
Following that, they stepped out of the city and noticed a forest a mile away from the edge, confusing him even more. Raeagr’s eyebrow shot up as he muttered. ’’There isn’t one out here, in the real world, it’s all fields.’’
’’The Gate changes stuff; it’s unknown how it does it, but it’s a fact of life,’’ the knight revealed. ’’It was the same during the last king’s life.’’
’’Interesting,’’ he replied.
At that moment, Raegar felt a surge of power intensifying, drawing them deeper into the forest as shadows enveloped them. The Fusion soldiers dispatched any monster that dared to approach, cutting down the beasts, leaving him. The battle was brief, thanks to Arthur’s intervention.
His blade cleaved a tiger-like creature in two with a single stroke, while the soldiers overwhelmed the remaining enemies, killing them quickly. As the chaos unfolded, he realized he could summon over two hundred. Following that, they continued until coming across a ruined fortress.
Raegar was about to step inside, but Arthur stopped him. ’’We have to fight here to get more Fusion Soldiers.’’
His blue eyes gleamed with excitement as the Fusion Knights spoke. Together, they devised a bold strategy: a direct assault, eliminating all the monsters and seizing everything for themselves. With the plan set, he drew his daggers and used Flash Step, closing the distance to the enemy walls as projectiles streaked toward him.
Explosions roared around him, decimating his soldiers, but they reformed almost instantly. The cost in Aether was significant, yet he pressed forward undeterred and reappeared on the wall within minutes. He spotted Zombies all around him, their moans reached his ears, sending a shiver down his spine.
Raegar cast Lightningfire Blast into the crowd, blue fire washing over them. The enemy turned to ash just as Arthur appeared on the opposite side of the wall. He watched the Fusion Knight slicing apart the Zombies and Ghoul Mages that appeared from the towers, prompting him to aim for them as well.
He surged forward, his daggers carving through decayed flesh, splattering black blood across the battlefield. As he closed in on the Ghouls, he caught them casting a spell toward Arthur. With skill, he shredded them into a thousand different pieces before parrying a creature’s claw.
His gaze locked onto a bizarre beast, a dog-like monster standing upright on two legs, its oversized claws gleaming. Raegar lunged at the bipedal, dog-like monster, its massive claws slashing through the air. The creature let out a snarl, but he was faster, sidestepping its attack and driving his blades into its side.
Black blood sprayed, and the beast staggered, only to lash out with renewed fury. Behind him, the Fusion Soldiers moved like a synchronized storm, their blades and energy blasts cutting through the fortress’s defenses. Ghouls and other grotesque creatures fell in droves, unable to withstand the onslaught.
Arthur, nearby, swung his sword in a wide arc, cleaving through a wave of smaller monsters that swarmed from the fortress’s crumbling gates. ’’My lord, push forward!’’ he shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.
Raegar nodded, summoning another wave of Fusion Soldiers; over a hundred materialized, their glowing forms bolstering the assault. The Aether drain tugged at his core, but the sight of his forces overwhelming the enemy fueled his resolve. The dog-like beast roared, lunging again.
He used Flash Step, vanishing and reappearing behind it, his daggers sinking into its spine. The creature collapsed, but more emerged from the fortress’s shadows, hulking, misshapen forms with jagged teeth and claws. The Fusion Soldiers met them head-on, their coordinated strikes tearing through the enemy ranks.
Following that, he channeled Aether into a pulse, blasting a hole through the fortress’s outer gate. ’’Now!’’ he commanded.
The Fusion Soldiers poured through the breach, cutting down the remaining defenders. Raegar and Arthur fought side by side, their weapons a blur as they carved a path to the fortress’s heart. The air thrummed with power, the shadows retreating as the stronghold fell under their control.
Raegar and Arthur stormed through the breached gate, the Fusion Soldiers moving as a tide behind them. The interior was a labyrinth of stone corridors and cavernous halls, crawling with monstrous defenders, ghouls, twisted beasts, and grotesque amalgamations of flesh and bone.
His daggers danced, severing limbs and spilling blood with every strike. Arthur’s sword was a whirlwind, cutting down enemies in broad, devastating sweeps as the Fusion Soldiers pressed forward, their energy blasts illuminating the dim halls. A hulking creature, its body a mass of writhing tentacles, blocked their path in the central chamber.
Following that, Raegar didn’t hesitate. He unleashed a burst of Aether, summoning a hundred Fusion Soldiers in a flash of light. The air crackled as their glowing forms materialized, instantly joining the fray. The warriors tore into the tentacled beast, reducing it to a quivering heap within moments.
He felt the Aether drain deepen, but the sight pushed him onward. The remaining monsters fought desperately, their roars and screeches echoing off the stone walls. Some hurled dark spells, others charged with claws and fangs, but none could withstand. Raegar darted through the chaos, using Flash Step to outmaneuver a pack of snarling troll creatures.
His daggers sliced them apart before they could react. Arthur, meanwhile, smashed through bone-armored beasts, his sword cleaving through their defenses. Room by room, the fortress fell. The soldiers moved like machines, killing every monster in their path, ghouls disintegrated, winged horrors were cut down mid-flight, and lumbering giants collapsed.
By the time Raegar and Arthur reached the fortress’s throne room, the last of the creatures. A towering, multi-eyed abomination fell to a combined assault of Raegar’s daggers and the soldiers’ barrage. As silence settled over the blood-soaked halls, he observed the conquered fortress.
The Fusion Soldiers stood guard, their numbers now bolstered by the hundred he had summoned. The stronghold was theirs; the monsters were destroyed. Arthur clapped a hand on his shoulder. ’’We’ve claimed it all, my lord,’’ he said.
Raegar nodded, his blue eyes burning with triumph, but he soon collapsed. He was out cold thanks to the Aether use. He woke up hours later, lying on an uncomfortable bed, his entire body hurting thanks to burning through his energy too quickly. While sitting there, he felt fifty Fusion soldiers around him.
Moments later, Arthur’s voice echoed out through the small room. ’’You need to rest, my lord.’’
’’Are we still in the fortress?’’ he questioned, rubbing his head.
The incessant ringing in his ears persisted, deepening his confusion. Dizziness overwhelmed him, forcing Raegar to collapse back onto the ground, his vision spinning. The ringing in Raegar’s ears refused to fade, clouding his thoughts and sending waves of dizziness through his body.
His legs buckled, and he sank to the cold stone floor of the conquered fortress, the weight of his Aether depletion pressing heavily on him. The triumphant hum of victory still lingered in the air, but his body demanded rest to restore the energy he had expended summoning and sustaining the Fusion Soldiers.
Arthur, noticing Raegar’s struggle, knelt beside him. ’’You’ve pushed too far," he said, concern etching his features. ’’Rest now. We’ve secured the fortress against the monsters.’’
Raegar nodded weakly, his blue eyes heavy. The ringing pulsed in time with his heartbeat, but he knew sleep was the only way to recover his Aether. He leaned against the throne room’s wall as he closed his eyes. The Fusion Soldiers stood sentinel around the chamber, their forms casting a faint light that danced across him before he drifted off.
As he slipped into a deep sleep, he felt the Aether within him slowly begin to stir. The fortress, now silent save for the soft hum of his soldiers patrolling the halls. While lying there, he wondered how the women were doing and if the battle had stopped yet, and didn’t know it was just beginning.
When Raegar awoke the next morning, a deafening clap of thunder jolted him upright, only for searing pain to surge through his body, sending him stumbling to the floor. Gritting his teeth, he hobbled to the window, where an ominous darkness cloaked the fortress. In the distance, the guttural roars of monsters pierced the air, seizing his attention.
He gripped the windowsill, his knuckles whitening as another thunderclap shook the fortress. The pain in his body throbbed, but his newly restored Aether pulsed faintly, urging him to act. Through the inky darkness outside, flashes of lightning revealed writhing shapes beyond the walls.
’Monsters again? But they don’t seem like your normal creatures,’ he thought, scanning the shadows.