Chapter 15 The Uhyre Horde

Axel found Jack and Jasmine down the wall after speaking with Lenny. The two were chatting away as they looked out into the gloomy night. As were many. They couldn’t see much as most people didn’t have Dark Seer, but were still looking out in with fear mixed with excitement.

“Hey,” Axel said, stopping next to Jasmine.

“Get it sorted?” Jack asked.

Axel nodded. “All set. How long ‘till the event begins?”

“Ten minutes,” Jack answered in a huff. “I can’t see shit.”

“Should’ve been a goblin then,” Jasmine teased.

“I’d rather pass on making my tits and dick smaller.”

“You got tits?” Axel questioned.

“Ha. Ha. I have to admit guys, I feel like a kid again— like I’m playing VR for the first time.”

Jasmine responded, “I get what you mean. This feels so real, doesn’t it?”

Axel just grumbled to himself as he looked at the surroundings. “Pretty cheap they’re doing it at night.”

“Night makes it cooler,” Jack argued. “You guys have Dark Seer anyway, so I can barely see anything.”

“‘Suppose,” Axel mumbled. “I thin—”

“THE HORDE IS HERE!” General Rogan shouted.

{The event at Tresluna is beginning}

Everyone’s head snapped towards the darkness. Through Axel’s Dark Seer skill, he noticed large bodies of black move towards the wall. They were only strolling— stumbling forwards. The black figures ranged in shape and size; horns, hooves and sharpened teeth. Some soared up five metres, while slithered on the floor. There was one thing in common with them all; all had a strange armour to them. It looked like obsidian but it was not brittle. It moved around their bodies slowly like a parasite.

“Do you see that?” Jasmine whispered. The figures looked daunting and struck fear into her.

“See what?” Jack asked.

Axel grunted in response. “I think what Barb said is right. This is gonna be a fucking shit-show.”

{The event has begun!}

A blood-curdling screech echoed over the silent city. Everyone tensed up. Even though it was a game, the mind struggled to distinguish fiction from reality. Howls could be heard from the darkness; loud groans from large bodies and whispers from an ungodly kind. Silence once again fell, and only the sounds of thousands upon thousands of footsteps could be heard.

“LIGHT THE FIRES!” General Rogan bellowed, raising his sword into the air.

By the wall inside the city, soldiers lit large catapults drenched in oil. The sudden heat caused everyone to unease.

“Archers!” General shouted. “Draw!”

“Hold!”

“Holy shit this is so cool!” Jasmine squealed.

“Hold!”

“I am a little bit lighter I won’t lie,” Jack joked.

“Stop being a pussy,” Axel said. “C’mon, we got this.”

“Hold!”

From the illumination of the city, the Uhyre Horde came into view. They were horrific-looking; monsters twisted by the Seed of Chaos. Their eyes all glowed red, and the obsidian on their skin slowly moved around them. There was a variety of monsters charging towards the wall; minotaurs, wolves, giants, lizards— monsters the three had never seen before.

“FIRE!” General Rogan screamed at the top of his lungs.

Soldiers cut the tensed ropes on the catapults, and hundreds of flaming balls of rock were ejected into the sky. In the brief moment, before they collided with the ground, everyone could see just how many monsters there was. It was only a small glimpse but it showed thousands of them; snarling and growing and running towards them at full tilt.

The flaming balls crashed on the horde, lighting the monsters on fire while shattering them with rock.

“Archers!” General Rogan bellowed.

Arrows were shot into the air, blocking out the little light the moon offered. The front wave of the horde was decimated. However, when the living ran over the dead, the Chaos stuck to their bodies, enhancing the monsters further.

“Did you see that?” Jack asked.

“It’s like a lich,” Axel commented. “Uses the dead it has to fuel its body. Cool design.”

“There are thousands of them though. What if it spreads to us?” Jack asked in a worried tone.

“Grow up,” Jasmine told him.

“Yeah Jack, grow up.”

“No, I’m serious. If this is the main story player base can take part in, then it’s going to be interesting— and hard.”

“Just makes it better,” Axel added. “It’s not like we’re going to be taking part in the main story, is it?”

Jack gave up and dismissed it. He looked around to see if he could find a bow. He didn’t any skills to use them, but he felt useless just standing on the wall, sword in hand. Jasmine was throwing daggers at the horde with pinpoint accuracy. Axel suddenly remembered he was a mage; he had been so focused on the charges he set that he completely forgot about the spells sitting in his status.

Axel cleared his throat and opened his palm out. “Rain Gold,” he said calmly.

He didn’t expect the gold coins to shoot out incredibly fast. They travelled a fair distance and collided with an uhyre. It was at the front of the horde and was soon pinned down by other arrows and magic.

{You received the assist for Level 13 Uhyre Wolf}

{Rewards}

5 Copper

+17 Experience

{To receive more rewards, you must acquire the [Butcher] skill}

The coin wasn’t bad, the experience was, however. He would receive more if he killed it, rather than just hitting it. Compared to the collection bonuses, it was nothing.

And so, the three continued to attack the horde. As more of them came, they were halted immediately. They just kept coming and coming, but getting cut down each time. The bodies of the dead were beginning to pile up.

Just as the pile was getting too large, General Rogan shouted, “Halt fire!”

A few more projectiles soared into the night sky, but eventually, everyone stopped.

“Why are we not attacking?” Jack asked.

Axel was watching intently at the pile of dead monsters. As no one else could see unless they had the Dark Seer skill, he noticed the bodies of the monsters were being dragged back by the others. The large ones were grabbing handfuls of their dead and running back towards treelines. He barely could see over the edge of the hoard, but the other dead monsters were acting like a wall. The ones that didn’t build the wall, were being dragged away.

“Axel,” Jasmine said.

“Yeah, I’m watching.”

“Don’t keep me updated,” Jack said rhetorically.

“Are monsters using tactics?” Jasmine asked, turning her head to Axel.

Axel furrowed his eyebrows while nodding. Now he understood why Lenny warned him so much. Not only were they strong but clever. Axel knew it wouldn’t the same for every monster, only the ones in the back that were controlling the attack.

“Burn the bodies!” General Rogan shouted.

From the army, fireballs and lit arrows were launched at the pile. A few seconds after, copper cylinders containing oil were launched from the catapults. They flew faster and arrived just before the fire attack did.

A wall of flame erupted, burning the bodies and creating a defence.

“I got that on record,” Jack said in awe.

“They knew what they’re doing, don’t they?” Axel remarked.

“Yeah,” Jasmine agreed.

“Is it over?” Jack asked.

{Wave 1 out of 3 is over}

“You just had to, Jack,” Axel tutted, shaking his head.

“Well, I didn’t fucking know that.”

“Shh,” Jasmine hushed the two.

“Archers draw! Artillery reload!” General Rogan barked. “Hold all!”

{Wave 2 is now starting}

Axel could see another horde of monsters advance. It was far denser and the monsters within were stronger. What alarmed Axel, was the dead monsters had been absorbed by the others. Not just an increase in strength or size, but heads and limbs were hanging off the bodies. Some of them moved and others didn’t.

“Oh fuck, now that’s scary,” Axel stated.

“That’s so gross,” Jasmine whined.

“What’s happening?” Jack asked. “What’s going on?”

“You don’t wanna know,” Axel replied, staring off into the darkness.

“Hold!” General Rogan shouted.

“Hold!”

“Hold!”

Axel noticed that General Rogan was letting them get closer; nearer to his spells. It was perfect. He was going to wait as he wanted to maximise his earnings. Axel didn’t care about the horde itself, only the coin involved. He didn’t want the city to fall, but maybe the rebuilding efforts he could be involved in.

“Fire!” he yelled.

Another volley of flaming rock and powerful projectiles landed into the horde. Although the attack hit and killed many, the density of the second wave was greater, and more were getting closer.

A few ran over Axel’s traps, but he didn’t activate them.

“Hold positions! Engage!”

Shields were interlocked together, forming a barricade; spears were pointed over the tops. The few stragglers that reached them were stabbed by sharpened blades. After the monster had died, they threw the corpses behind them. Axel was puzzled as to why, but he then remembered they could power themselves up with their dead. There was a ditch behind them, where they would just throw them to take them out of the fight. The players down below caught on very soon and followed suit.

More stragglers were now getting through. It was now like the first wave. Axel was hesitating about what to do. He didn’t want to save them. From his experience, it was best to use something as soon as possible. Axel was greedy, not stupid though.

He watched the horde come while shooting spells, all while looking at the back; trying to find the best time possible.

“Ah, fuck it,” Axel spat, fed up with waiting. He willed the first bomb to activate. It was spectacular. Flaming gold coins exploded into the air, sending monsters flying and others barrelling backwards.

“Oh my god,” Axel said, open-mouthed.

{You have killed level 19 Uhyre Minotaur}

{You have killed level 17 Uhyre Barbed Slasher}

…

{You have killed level 21 Uhyre Giant}

{Rewards}

+1,319 Experience

+1 Gold 7 Silver

{Bonuses from Gluttonous Gold Bomb}

+17 Gold

+4 Gold

+3 Gold

+3 Gold

+1 Gold

+1 Gold

He kept watching as the gold kept ticking upwards. Not only did it do a devastating impact on the monsters, but the gold coins covered a large distance, drowning the horde in flaming gold. If there was a saying for Axel’s personality, it would be exactly that.

Jasmine threw her arms up in the air victoriously, but a side-eye from Axel quieted her down. He didn’t want anyone to know it was him, but she had forgotten that.

Jack came over and whispered in his ear, “Man, that was so fucking sweet. How many more?”

“Two more out there, and that earned me … 32 gold.”

Jack opened his mouth but tried his best to close it again. “That’s broken,” he spluttered with his face contorting.

“No shit,” Axel whispered back. “Now for the next one.”

Another explosion of gold occurred, coating more and more in flaming gold coins. All Axel could do was grin; he couldn’t celebrate. If they found out he was a loot goblin, then it would be easier to find him.

He did it with the last one. Boom. Gold fell into his wallet.

A third of the battlefield was coated in flaming gold. It was larger than he expected. The fire was spreading too, but he wasn’t making money for it.

“Fire at will!” General Rogan ordered.

Arrows, magical projectiles and flaming balls of rock— accompanied by gold coins, all flew towards the incoming horde. Axel had to concentrate in combat for the first time since he started playing again. He was firing them off let, right and centre; Jasmine was idle either, and Jack had stolen a bow off a disgruntled player.

The last of the wave fell after an hour of repetitive attacks. It was tough. The soldiers and players on the ground were panting. The mages on the wall were mana-less, and the archers were running out of ammo.

“Shit,” Axel said. “I should’ve bought a fuck tonne of arrows instead.”

{Wave 2 out of 3 is over}

The trio put their backs to the wall to catch their breaths.

“I-I am so tired,” Jasmine huffed.

“At least you have all your daggers still,” Axel countered.

“I forgot how much I love the bow,” Jack pondered.

“An orc with a bow?” Axel asked.

“That’s an oxymoron,” Jasmine added.

“You know, I can’t believe we have another wave,” Jack said, standing up.

“I have a plan already,” Axel said, joining him.

“Does that plan involve us?” Jasmine asked.

Axel clicked his teeth. “Maybe. I don’t want you guys getting caught up in this one.”

“Is it that bad?” Jack whispered to him.

Axel subtly nodded. “I have a guard under my thumb. I wanna kill the rest of them so he takes the lead.”

“And how the fuck you’re gonna do that?” Jack asked, looking around for any eyes on them.

“You know I have explosives. I also know where the guards are stationed, and where the one under my thumb is.”

“Where?” Jack asked.

Axel nodded behind him, motioning over to the watchtower above the gate. “I think the horde is going to breach the gate. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to make it so.” He gave a nod to Jack and went to leave. However, Jack pulled him back.

“You want to sabotage this?” Jack questioned seriously.

Axel nodded while pouting. “If I control the guards I control the city. That means we can do and sell anything. As long as the big guys at the top of the city don’t hear about it.” Axel nodded to the noble and royal quarters of the city.

“Shit. You really want to take over?”

“I don’t want to, Jack, I will. Are you in?”

“Fuck yeah I am. I think Jasmine wil—”

“I’m in,” Jasmine said chirpily, appearing next to the two.

“You need to stop doing that,” Axel said. “It’s so creepy.”

“Eavesdropping is not creepy, it’s smart.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“How can we help?” Jack asked, folding his arms.

Axel looked side to side before continuing. “Arrows. Most people have a quiver on their back. Cut the straps or break the arrows. Move covert. When mages are about to pluck a potion out of their inventory, gently nudge ‘em. Make sure no one sees you. Always apologise first if you get caught; act under them. Jasmine, I need you to make the catapults malfunction.”

“Destroy them?” she questioned.

“Don’t be stupid. We can’t make anything obvious.”

“And the tower?” Jack wondered.

Axel smirked. “I’ll deal with that.”

{Wave 3 is starting}