Bonded Summoner

Book 4. Chapter 23: Miasmic Swamp

Jake’s army was the second to arrive at the center of the jungle. In front of them, was the largest tree of all. It looked like a skyscraper-sized willow tree, its long, fleshly vine-filled branches extending for hundreds of meters in nearly all directions.

He was more than happy to hear that Morwen’s forces had accomplished their task, and with minimal losses. From what he understood, they had a vast amount of experience.

Their people focused on group-casting tactics, using the undead as shields to bear the brunt of the attacks until their group spells were completed. Individually, none of them were exceptional. He half expected that in a duel as mages, Ophelia could have won against many of them before level 10 as they are now, and Jake would have crushed them with ease even earlier than that with his speed and skill.

But together, they could become formidable. They could form several circles around a caster, and create different stages of effects such as a circle forming a barrier, then a circle that attacked in some way, before the inner circle powered the primary attack.

Their circles used a script-based casting, which wasn’t very different from rune-based casting. The only real difference was the language itself and the formation in which the scripts took in order to be used.

A magical language, the words were of a base origin, created by the nature of magic itself. Using scripts was as simple as knowing a sentence or paragraph of words that somehow created a spell effect. It was as easy as remembering the order of them, and pushing your mana and intent to establish the scripts with the correct amount.

This was in contrast to Runic magic, which required a formation of runic phrases to be perfectly balanced. Making one change to a spell in one place might require a change in another in order to keep the spell from falling apart. josei

Discovering new spells for Runic magic was a challenge, as the complicated blend of different runic phrases must be balanced across a complicated formation. Only when scripts were combined into several circles could they reach a high level of complexity, and that was balanced across dozens of people being involved to work out the connections between.

The Eternum also used scripts, and Jake learned that this was the most broadly used type of casting, besides Framework-based casting at Tier 1. At the second Tier, some elemental manipulations became much more common-place, as people unlocked their mana core and started aspecting their mana. Jake was ahead of the curve here, having his Hearth core, and Hearth control a whole Tier earlier.

He considered learning a handful of spells using scripts, but held off for the time being. He thought once they reached the peak of their Tier and maxed out most of his remaining skills would be the perfect time to shore up some of his weaknesses in knowledge. But perhaps just having Hearth Runic Magic to 5 with enough knowledge might help him achieve everything he needed to know.

Now that they had access to the multiverse market and would have plenty of funds and time, they could really understand if they were missing anything. That was, after they finished saving Highlands.

“Still all clear, Tanda?”

She nodded. “My scouts don’t see any changes in the surrounding area. We really cleared everything from here. Even our underground scouts aren’t finding anything amiss.”

Fhesiah and Ira were both sure there was nothing outside the ordinary here. It was true that Nature’s Crossroads was not the same level of HQ as the first that they took. This encounter was less like a boss challenge and more like a standard city defense, just with boss-level monsters.

If they left now, it would take days, or even weeks, for the enemy to raise their forces back to this level once more. The other HQ had portals that would have refilled the undead, and the challenges would have respawned within hours. This one, if they brought enough numbers, they could potentially overwhelm it with ease.

The idea was certainly that if Alliance forces were busy here, Tartarus could be attacking elsewhere. That was unfortunately the case now, as it had picked up operations near the coasts. Once they recaptured this, they would be creating a new Alliance HQ up North for defense of the Heart of the World, then moving on to contest Tartarus at the coasts.

Morwen’s team started to arrive, and they formed up on the opposite side of the tree. Jake was surprised to see a massive bone warrior leading the march, that was even larger than the death knight they had faced.

Berri looked at the giant warrior with awe. “Wow! He’s actually big-sized!” She looked at her maul, as if comparing it to the massive axe.

Blood sighed. “No, sister, we are not getting a bigger maul. It’s just the right size.”

The three armies now stood in a triangle around the tree. Looking at the tree, he could see Morwen’s army on the right of it, on the complete opposite side of the miasmic lake. Fhesiah and Ophelia’s army were also to the right, but a third of a circle to his right.

They were too far from each other to really aid one another at somewhere between a quarter to half mile away, but it wouldn’t be impossible to rush over. Morwen’s army was much further away, being almost double that from their side. Still, Ophelia could reinforce them within mere moments.

If they hadn’t talked about it beforehand to hear the plan from Morwen, Jake would be at a bit of a loss on how they should assault this tree. The murky swamp filled with deathly energies was not great for an army to traverse to reach the tree and begin hacking on it. Then, the hanging vines moved as if alive, an almost sea of tendrils ready to attack them.

Fhesiah added, “There are many tendrils or roots below, as well. If we tried to cross by turning it into ice, I’d wager they’d break through and attack.”

Jake nodded. That was why the plan was somewhat simple. They would siege the tree, for it to consume much of its swamp below before they attempted their crossing.

The deathly swamp acted both as a means to spawn enemies, but also heal the tree itself. He bet that their flames would be inhibited in many ways by the disgusting fluid, and the tree was filled with blighters hanging from the branches.

Under the miasmic lake, there were thousands of undead just waiting there for their assault, and many would spawn throughout the encounter, consuming the fluid.

Jake took out a dozen large ballistas from his storage bracelets, and the beastkin prepared to operate them. The bolts were enchanted with an explosive flame spell, and he hoped that it would have the ability to cut down the many massive branches that held the tendrils above.

Ophelia and Fhesiah did the same at their side, as did Morwen herself. There, the undead servants would operate them. Her side had been planning on freezing their side of the swamp, as they didn’t use fire.

The swamp water would get quite deep near the center, and there, they would have to fight through a lot of healing and spawning of enemies.

Censers spread a holy smoke that covered their army, but Jake knew that this would lose out against the thick, blighted miasma that was emanating from the swamp. Even the creep they stood on would not recede at all, other than when Bloodberri’s epic censer pulsed. Even then, the blighted creep threatened to overtake their position.

Fhesiah was already building up flames by burning the creep, creating an orb of flame. The assault would now begin.

The two dozen ballistas fired their opening salvo at the base of the tree. Tendrils swung down from the boughs above, and several ballista bolts exploded against them. But many continued on, and struck the base of the skyscraper-sized tree trunk. An explosion of flame was seen and heard, but the flames were snuffed out nearly instantly, along with the chunks of wood regrown.

The tree wailed a discordant note as the tree was covered in a black barrier, and they received a prompt.

[Challenge to HQ begun. 2 Alliance Champions and 1 Prospective Champion detected, with only 1 Tartarus Champion on World. Difficulty increased by +3 Levels. Difficulty with Alliance Present: B]

Jake was surprised to see that a single Champion was present on the world, but was relieved. Ira and Fhesiah indicated that this Champion was not currently present. Jake’s guess was they had chosen to focus their efforts on the coasts, or perhaps were working together with the betrayers to bring more to their cause as they waited for reinforcements. It was either that, or they had some kind of special assassin that could avoid Fhesiah and Ira’s detection.

He had to guess that even if something like that existed, it would be foolish to attack only to get chased down and die. Even if they could succeed and kill one of Jake’s party, there was no way they could get away from whomever was left.

Then, that person would simply be resurrected, when that one would not. If they had confidence they could escape, then that would be a different thing. At the same time, if it wasn’t a decisive moment in the war, they would tip their hand and Jake and party could be more vigilant going forward. He guessed that no assassin would be foolish enough to attack today.

Large skeletal creatures began to wade out of the murky water, and vines hanging from the branches above and the roots below began to twist and form into many figures. Like an odd puppet with a string controlling it from above or below, the figures began to march onto the shore.

Many strands began to form into a much more massive creature, that looked vaguely like an evil treant to Jake. He guessed it was a sort of boss creature. Blighters hung from the strands, as the larger figures approached the three different armies.

In addition to the several treants, there were one per army, perhaps a boss-level creature, being formed at each.

Morwen said over the headset, “The three boss-level creatures would be empowered if their tree was still alive, in addition to rapidly respawning when killed. In a few minutes, one of the large trees on the outside will likely respawn and cause this. We’ll leave it to our flyer’s mobility to take care of whichever one it is.”

Their armies waited beyond the shore, as the large creatures with various undead emerged from the murky water. Ghouls, blighters, skeletal knights and warriors, skeletal mages and necromancers all joined their strange treant puppet allies. Now, Jake saw various undead woodland and jungle creatures in addition to the undead dinosaurs emerging from the murk as well.

Just the sight of the beasts of nature being perverted filled the beastkin with anger. Their hearts sang a song of retribution, and Jake’s runes flickered red. His veil of heavenly aura darkened as it spread over his allies, and they began loosing their attacks against the oncoming horde of undead monsters.

Seamus seemed furious, as he swung his axe with a radiant light. He cleaved through nearly a dozen of the smaller creatures in one swing, dispersing them into dust. Ainora worked together on his flank with Kevin the Naga, the two cutting down enemies left and right.

Tanda shot her bow into the branches as she flew through the air, taking down various blighters hanging from them. The many flying beastkin matched her, but with each blighter killed, new ones climbed further across the tree. A near endless troop of blighters marched on the branches to approach the armies, releasing a cloud of blight and curses on those below.

The curses weakened various beastkin, and made them more susceptible to grievous wounds. But the various beastkin pushed their wills, filling themselves with auril. They fought against the effects, and in time, would eventually be able to remove them on their own without aid.

The beastkin fought together in formation, the various ranged and melee attacks cutting down the enemies. The ballistas launched against the high branches, and Jake thought he saw the lake of murky water decreasing as more creatures emerged.

Fhesiah sent, [It is decreasing. At this pace, it will take hours to reach the bottom, though. I’m betting the big guys will reduce it much more significantly.]

The undead treants with cords of vines attached to them started arriving now, the boss-level ones still wading through the murky water behind. Javelins and arrows struck the undead trees, causing explosions, but the attacks and flames washed over them without even slowing them down.

Bloodberri moved forward to meet the large treant, but was waiting for it to come near the battle lines, set up a distance from the shore of the swamp.

Jake could see in the distance that Fhesiah had already built up a large flame, and sent it over to one of the undead treants. The creature was about the size as Vesuvius got when he was big, or Ophelia when she used her Valkyrie Champion. The creature looked both strong and sturdy.

The flame slammed into the treant, but it continued its march across the swamp. A black film covered the creature, as if being sent through its odd cord. Ophelia added a [Spear of Hestia]’s flames, as she blitzed around and attempted to cut this cord with her lance.

She succeeded in cutting it, but new vines grew down from the boughs of the tree, along with other vines growing up from the treant itself to reattach to the cut vine that swung back. Despite her efforts to cut these vines, others connected. The fire spread from Fhesiah and Ophelia’s work, but the murky black film was able to snuff them out, and heal some damage that was done to it rapidly.

The creature was ponderous, and Ophelia was able to keep out of its way with ease. She lanced into the creature flying around it with [Ride of the Valkyries], each cut seemingly ineffectual, with how quickly the creature’s tree flesh grew back. It swung its fists and vines lashed out at her as she passed, but she was able to cut into it repeatedly.

The creature continued to march slowly toward their battle lines, and Jake just wanted one more test before he made his call. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Morwen’s assessment, but his party was on another level.

Bloodberri surged past a number of undead, her armor scoring cuts on creatures as she pushed them aside. She swayed back and forth as she approached, using her technique to release a fog that lowered the surrounding target’s parameters, and cut the various undead in her path with her armor.

When she neared, Bloodberri surged forward like the strike of a viper, as she activated [Maul of Hestia-Echidna]. Her runes lit bright white and black on her body and maul, as she slammed into the creature’s chest. Light and dark exploded a massive chunk of its chest, as the undead creature was flung a dozen meters onto its back. It slid across the ground, as the black film appeared to restore it within seconds, like inflating a disgusting undead balloon.

Morwen spoke over their headsets, “It’s just as I said, is it not? No matter how powerful your holy flames and magic, it will require significant effort to kill the puppets; these creatures are designed to be effective against those that should have an advantage against them. We must drain the pool of miasma before these creatures can be easily eliminated, though you may get some taken down with a strong, concerted effort. You may be able to destroy enough branches above, but they will grow back in time as well. Kiting and control will serve you much better than high damage in a short period.”

Jake understood, but still had to see it for himself. He signaled for people to prepare kiting the targets, and moving their formations to make way for the effectively invulnerable creatures had a path through and the formation to avoid them. He would lock down a few of them, but there were a half-dozen on the way to each army, along with the massive one that represented the three trees in the rear.

Tanda began her own assault. The deathbloom was perfectly suited for causing a massive amount of damage to these creatures, and slowing them down. She targeted those in the back of the formations with her rampant growth seeds, attached to her arrows. Vines spread from where they were struck, the plant pulling in miasma and releasing an acidic to the undead gas filled with life.

The black film covered the plants, but that appeared to make them even more fervently suck in the deathly energies as Tanda infused more energy with her spell, her rampant growth even stronger now than it was.

The treants were quickly wrapped up in vines and gas, the undead tree men slowing to a crawl. She targeted the massive one next, but vines on that one quickly tore the plants apart before they had a chance to grow.

Tanda said, “I can only slow three down and keep them busy. You’ll need to take care of the rest.”

“That’s great work, Tanda.”

Berri yelled, “Yeah, good job, Tanda! You’re such a good girl!”

Tanda frowned even as she smiled and her tail wagged. “Why does she say it like that? And why does it make me feel so happy?”

Jake shrugged with a smile, keeping his thoughts locked down tight. When he asked Berri this, he felt no ill intentions in her response. She said it that way because it made Tanda feel happiest. Jake had a suspicion that Blood thought it was funny and recommended it, but he couldn’t be sure.

From what Jake noticed, most beastkin had absolutely no problems with being compared to their animal parentage, as they called them. They believed them to be part of their heritage, and a point of pride in terms of their traits carrying on to make them as a people diverse, or adding to their song.

At the same time, Jake felt it was a little odd. He avoided pointing things out like that as a matter of course. He imagined that insulting them and their animal parentage, they would be just as upset about the insult to their parentage as they were about themselves being insulted, rather being compared.

Jake looked over to Blood, and did his best to find resonance with her. His queen took control of the battlefield, restricting and weakening their foes. Her enemies were dealt with overwhelming might, or powerful control. Her allies were aided with leadership and governance, allowing them to accomplish whatever was necessary.

Jake shifted over to his newly formed state, [Monarch]. His and Ophelia’s runes on their equipment turned the color of dark gold, as he took on the traits of a sovereign. His [Aura of Heavenly Flames] extended outward, the veil becoming golden.

Jake’s idea for this state was to make a covenant that had two sides of the same coin. A monarch that controlled the battlefield from the rear, with strategy, leadership, and supremacy.

The other, a monarch that lead from the front: a shining example of a warrior–a kingdom’s champion. A leader that showed unmatched bravery, strength, and skill. A sovereign that exerted their authority and increased their dominion with unstoppable might.

Ophelia lost her ability to cast runic spells, keeping her Valkyrie spell capabilities. In addition, she lost the ability to send a mirror out of Jake, in order to increase the effect of the two spells even further.

Only her ability to take blows for her Chosen remained, a necessity to keep Jake protected. In exchange, her melee parameters were increased, almost as much as Juggernaut had previously. Her melee attacks would take on the divine flames of Hestia, much like Jake’s Wrath state allowed for additional elements to his melee attacks previously.

Jake’s runic prisms in his staff spun to enter the proper configuration. What he lost was his ability to cast any spells other than control spells. In return, they were significantly enhanced, along with his aura and the buffs on his girls.

There were three giant puppets ashore now, approaching their army. The massive boss-level one was in the rear, and just now about to reach it. That was good enough for Jake.

He pushed the golden runes into his staff, infusing the runes with the flames of his hearth. His will was imposed on reality, and a storm of frost began to build and condense at Jake’s target. A sphere of frost was formed in front of the massive treant that just arrived ashore, before it exploded outward in a nova of ice. It washed over the enemy, even freezing much of the murky water.

The three large treants were captured, along with the massive one that was now just coming ashore. They were locked up to their waists or slightly above, the ice even spreading upward with the creatures unable to move. Even Tanda’s locked down targets were slightly affected, just barely within the reach of his spell.

He had improved on his nova of frost, managing to add more runes to empower it. While it didn’t compare to the overall size and effect of Morwen’s [Winter’s Embrace] when cast as a group, his was quite respectable considering he accomplished it by himself. For now, Blood and Berri couldn’t help him on such a spell, and Ophelia could only barely accomplish better than the runes on his staff by aiding him.

Jake saw that Morwen released her own [Winter’s Embrace] to lock down the large creatures, as their absolutely massive Bone King cleaved through the trees and other enemies. The massive group spell reached deep into the lake, nearly freezing halfway across to the main tree itself.

Vesuvius and the other elites of their army broke down the now frozen enemies, while the Emberborn spread their own miasma and claimed that of the unfrozen lake for themselves. There was a particularly large pull from the giant skeletal warrior, the creature being empowered by the lake itself.

Ophelia blazed at the center most treant, and unleashed her massive consecration spell as she cleaved into it with her halberd of flames. Her flames washed over all targets, and Fhesiah added on flames of her own as Ophelia cleaved through one repeatedly with her halberd.

Then, Fhesiah bulked herself up using [Draconic Might] and formed her dragon claw, and cleaved right through a flaming treant and its umbilical-cord vines. She then bathed it in her flames as she cut into it repeatedly, as well as beastkin attacking it with their bows and javelins.

Jake could visibly see the lake of miasmic water decreasing, as the black fluids were injected into the treants to counter this barrage done by the two girls. The undead vines appeared to be attempting to put out the fire as if from a hose, but the divine flames and dragon flames of the two girls were not easily removed.

The flames climbed the vines running into the creatures, and Fhesiah continued to cut into one as she lit it aflame. Eventually, it could not supply enough to keep healing her target and the undead tree melted. Vines had been growing to replenish her target from both below and above, but they stopped in the air as they no longer had anything to heal.

The same happened to Ophelia’s target, her flaming polearm cutting and spreading the flames as many beastkin shot at it from afar. The creature eventually melted to her divine flames, allowing her to move on to the next. Jake saw that from the vines, new large treants were being formed in the rear and beginning their march.

Jake’s frozen targets were being worked on, the beastkin’s ranged attacks with heavenly aura going for their unfrozen upper bodies. He pushed his desires through his golden aura, the beastkin improving their aim and their attacks.

They easily killed the spawned smaller undead as they swarmed around the frozen lake, and cut down the blighters that hung from the branches above. The lake was only at most one-tenth drained now, their work having only just begun.