The traitor working with us isn’t wrong about the poison. It isn’t even quite as dangerous as breathing air thick with dust, hell it’s not bad enough to make me want to cough. The stench is fairly awful, but I’ve already had my fair share of encounters with putrid smelling beasts, so this is nothing in comparison.

What the thick poison haze does achieve, is limiting our vision. The gremlins stumbling around are no different, though at least some of them seem to be locals, dodging mushrooms as they bound through the haze. Because of this, few actually take notice of us.

I stumble over a patch of smaller flat capped mushrooms, difficult to see with how closely coloured it is compared to the cobblestone street and fall on top of a small gremlin hidden in the small ‘garden’.

The small creature starts to scream, and I force a hand over its mouth, looking around to see if we’ve been noticed. A taller gremlin walks closer to us, but Eshya is fast with her sword and the beast falls without anything more than a dull thud.

The rest of my team gather around me but there are no other threats coming toward us.

I breath a sigh of relief and look down at the creature in my arms. I’ve seen what these beasts are like, and already it’s trying to gnaw on my hand, while thrashing about with it’s broken limbs. It seems I fell a little harder on this creature than I thought.

I use my mana drain to pull the life out of the beast, with how much weaker than me it is, it’s rather easy to sip it dry. It’s thrashing grows more intense before it relaxes and I let it drop.

“Mama…” I hear the creature whisper, looking over towards the fallen figure that Eshya cut down not seconds ago.

It doesn’t turn to me, it’s pitiful attempts at attacks fading away the moment I let it go.

“Save that trauma for later.” I say to myself, shoving the skin crawling chill deeper into the back of my mind.

“Two minutes.” Eshya reminds me, guiding me forwards, blood dripping from her sword.

The rest of the gremlins we pass seem to have awful sight and those close enough to see us are dead before they can let out a shout. We race against the clock, following Warren’s directions towards a particular tower where Paskel is known to be staying.

From what I’ve been told, Paskel is fast to flee the moment his life is in danger. If he wasn’t so fast on his feet, perhaps it wouldn’t be as much trouble.

We have combat teams spread out in the haze to try and catch him when we smoke him out. That said, if he would be so easily caught, he’d likely be dead already.

At the foot of his tower a large contingent of guards stand at the ready. Gremlins armed with long spears and thick armour, they’re clearly not the same as the others we’ve faced since coming here, but I’m not keen on engaging them.

All they’d have to do is survive long enough to let Paskel get away and we’d lose.

“If we take them by surprise, we might be able to sneak in.” Warren says, pausing when he realizes that we’re not following.

“That tower looks pretty tall. You’re sure that he’s in there, up high, not in a basement or anything?” I ask, looking up at the tower.

“I’m sure.” He replies, trying again to press us on. We don’t move to follow. It’s the same place that our scouts considered a likely home for the bothersome creature and it seems likely that Warren is telling us the truth right now.

“You have something prepared to catch him when he flees?” I ask him, looking up at the tower. “Do you really think your gremlin minions and fodder can take him out?”

He pauses, looking me up and down before frowning.

“They can slow him down, I’ve prepared them for that much.” He replies. “I’m not fool enough to think that we can actually catch the slippery bastard. You have something else planned?”

“I do.” I say, looking over my allies. I’ve split most of my forces up to target different areas at once, they should be nice and bloody by now, slaughtering the mages and elites that help support Paskel’s operations.

My current team is small, but still strong enough to support me well. Eshya obviously hasn’t left me, and we have Arn, Korgan, Rare, and a few lizard men too.

“It’s a good thing I came here.” I say, looking over the dimensions of the tower. I haven’t really tried anything of this scale before, but it should be possible. “I don’t think the bombs would have been up to the task.”

“Bombs?” Warren asks, looking back over us.

“Any second now.” Eshya says. “If we wait longer he’s going to notice something is up.”

“Right.” I say, feeling for the mana swirling about inside me. Eshya stands close to my side, watching Warren closely, as I let my attention focus inside me.

Pulling my mana away from the circuits and loops within me that supported my flesh, I start gathering it inside my chest. A small whirlpool filled with only a small fraction of my power, as I think of the funerals we held not so long ago.

My people were slaughtered.

Unacceptable.

The small vortex inflates as new mana takes on form to support my magic. The very universe, offended by the actions of my enemies, feeds power into the spell. I slowly stir more and more of my own mana into the vortex, and through my talent, the universe does the same.

I think back to the battle at the lord’s colony.

My people poisoned.

The children that would have one day been my subjects, dead before they had a chance.

Unacceptable.

The dark whirlpool of mana spins faster and faster inside my chest as I feed it more of myself. The spell grows deeper and denser, the longer I let it build. Already it fills me with more mana than I can ordinarily keep under control, but if it’s for just a moment, then I can bare with more.

Paskel

The bug that has plagued my home.

It has killed my people.

Unacceptable.

It must be crushed, gutted, splayed. Pried out of its shell, and slowly burned alive. Eyes plucked and squished. Fingers flayed, layer by layer. Guts twisted into ropes to bind it as it slowly watches itself die.

It will be made nothing.

The magical vortex tightens, shifting state to a new level of density, I can barely keep it under control. The thickened mana moves differently, hardening into something closer to a slurry, but without slowing it’s now grinding movements.

I force the last of my mana into the whirlpool, every last scrap building up the maddened vortex of power closer and closer to the breaking point.

The world will be as ash.

I loose the spell, demanding that it make this tower crumble.

A firm hand grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me away, the force of her dense mana form jarring on my mana-less flesh. Eshya shoves me into a nearby building as everyone takes cover.

I pull the mana from my batteries, consuming it fast as I can, while listening for the coming collapse.

My bones shake inside my flesh, as the sound of stone crashing against stone reverberates through the room. A pressure wave washes through my body, stealing away my hearing.

The roof shatters, a massive stone flying through to the far end, Eshya leaps over me covering me from the shards of stone that fly our way. The massive stone that’s broken through the roof, stops only as it impacts the enchanted wall on the far side of the room. Even then, the wall is left with a deep gouge.

Outside, the tower crumbles as it falls, all happening so fast that those inside have no chance to escape. It topples away from us, but even so the shattered stone flies in all directions.

“What in Frey’s name was that?!” Warren shouts as the last stones settle, staring at wreckage that was once Paskel’s home.

Clearing my ears, I sit up with as much poise as I can manage while my mana slowly converts. I barely have the strength to squeeze some air into my lungs as the batteries weigh heavy on my chest.

“You said that your king is terribly strong. That we should acknowledge him so that we can survive under his rule. Do you still think that we’ll bow?” I ask, refusing let the dizziness take hold. I’ve experienced low mana enough to keep a strong face now.

The spell I just cast was much the same as what I used against the giant titan back on that excursion Arduelle sent me on. Without the fire, but otherwise the same. Against that beast, this spell barely left a mark.

There is still a long path to walk before I have true strength.

“That…” Warren looks between me and the fallen tower. “It’s still not enough.”

I swallow back a smartass response and struggle to my feet as the first taste of mana starts flowing properly through my flesh again.

“Are we going to crush this bug, or let it get away?” I ask, leading my warriors towards the fallen stone tower as I watch Warren for his response. The man doesn’t yet seem ready to close his own trap, and I have no reason to kill him just yet.

If Paskel is not yet dead, then I could use him to help keep the bug down.

“Survivors.” Eshya warns, pointing her sword at a group of armoured gremlins pulling each other out from the stone wreckage. More and more gremlins come out of the woodwork to take a peak, or help with the digging.

“Kill them. Look for powerful magic under the rocks. If Paskel is buried, there’s a good chance he’s using magic to protect himself.” I say.

“I don’t think he has any magic that would be useful here.” Warren says.

“Exactly what he’d want you to think.” I say, “If he’s as paranoid as I suspect, he’ll have something.”

Warren only grunts in response.

Before we can start battle, loud screaming comes from all around.

Another layer of chaos becoming real as a swarm of red birds fly over the wall swooping down and slaughtering countless gremlins as they pass. I can’t see most of the slaughter, as the birds remain distant, surrounding us in a wide circle without approaching.

The eggs that they’re after have been carefully placed in a circle around us. A distraction to keep everyone confused and delay the arrival of any reinforcements. Warren pales slightly as he takes in the sight.

“Better focus Warren. We don’t want the bug to get away.” I say, wearing as bright a smile as I focus on him. The other gremlins are starting to come for us, but they don’t hold a candle to this man. He’s a greater threat by far.

“Yes.” He agrees, his expression slightly darkened with worry. “My warriors should be taking cover. You should have warned me of this.”

“You should have warned me about the army you had surrounding us.” I reply, casting a smaller annihilation bolt, flavoured with fire, at a gremlin that’s trying to get around Eshya.

“Would you have come here if I told you that?” He asks.

“We came knowing of your rather opaque plans already.” I tell him. “We’re not dumb enough to think that you were going to stay true to your word.”

He lets out a long low breath, before shaking his head and diving into the fight. He wraps his fists in large stone frames and dives into the battle.

The armoured gremlins put up more of a fight than I was expecting, but wounded from the collapse of the tower the few still in fighting condition still go down quick. Eshya’s blade flashes through the haze, cutting through joints at every chance, but the warriors move defensively, trying to cover each other as they deflect her attacks.

Rare’s fires aren’t so easily avoided, burning through the armour of one poor sod, while Arn and Korgan coordinate to smash their way through the armour of another pair. Warren’s fists smash the last few away.

Through the haze, I can see one particular gremlin joining the fight on our side, his face covered with a familiar insect. I can see that Shen’s battle tactics are as cruel as ever. The rest of my army converges on the fallen tower, groups of our warriors slaughtering gremlins and wetting the cobblestone street with their blood.

“Be careful, they’re using powerful poisons.” Eshya says, uncorking her first potion and washing it over a small cut in her arm.

A few others are using their own potions, hopefully we have enough.

“The target has been located. It’s buried halfway along the fallen tower. A large group of armoured gremlins is attempting to free him.” The message comes, and I instantly lead our little group towards where Paskel is buried.

The red birds will be dispersing in less than ten minutes, that’s all the time we have to get this done. If recruits trap us in here before we’ve dealt with the threat, we might need to organise an early retreat.

The group of armoured gremlins notice us quickly, splitting into two groups, one to face us and keep us away, another to pull up the stones and release their leader.

They charge at us with tall shields held high, trying to ram into us.

I leave them to the others, while focusing on the ground, trying to find the presence that should indicate where that damn bug is hiding. Like a cockroach, still crawling about, half alive after most of its body has been crushed flat.

I’ll hopefully see it dead before it has a chance to fight back.

“Stop them!” One of the gremlins shouts, still digging. “Paskel must live!”

“For Paskel!” Another shouts.

“You all die here!”

“We have to finish them quickly.” I say, catching a glimpse of the brightly burning mana stuck somewhere beneath the rubble. I don’t know what type of magic it is, but it’s the only thing I can see from here, it has to be him.

I gather a small annihilation bolt, a few hundred mana pressed into it as I let my talent build it up as much as possible. I blend in some raging fires to fill the void made by annihilation. My favourite spell.

~Skill developed

~Annihilation fire burst

The magic flows from my fingertips as Chip acknowledges the complete form of the Skill. The bolt of magic flies down through the stone, unhindered by the remains of enchantments, until finally reaching the glowing magic buried within.

Paskel moves a moment before my magic makes impact, and as I watch my magic unfold, he throws himself out of the way. I do recall the damn insect dodging my spells when I first saw him falling from the ceiling of the cavern, but to think he’d manage the same in these conditions…

I build up a dozen weaker spells and prepare to rapid cast down at him, but by the time the first is flying, the gremlins on the surface have taken on a new energy.

“It’s that one!” A gremlin shouts, pointing right at me. “Kill it! Kill it now!”

As one, the armoured ranks of gremlins turn towards me. Eshya’s sword can take an arm, but the gremlin doesn’t care. Warren can crush the chest of any thing that comes near, but those beside don’t even care, running past the man to get to me.

Our loose formation is nothing like a shield wall, and when the gremlins push like this, there’s no way of stopping them. More die every second, easy targets and easy prey, but a thick tide of flesh makes it through to me, some still burning from the dragon fire Rare spews over them.

They stand between me and my prey.

With great difficulty, I turn away from Paskel, raising my hands to defend myself as the first gremlin swings at me, dozens more following close behind.

They won’t have the chance to learn that regret is a privilege reserved for the living.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 2438 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Defence 80% 97% Offense 20% 70% Mana Sense 0% 97% Recovery 0% 44% Gluttony 0% 34% Misc. 0% 44% Efficiency 100% 100%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Reactive defence

-Fire burst punch

-Annihilation magic

-Charged casting (Annihilation)

-Mana form flow fixer

-Branching magic

-Swimming

-Annihilation fire burst