Path of the Slayer B3 48. Scouting & Setting Up

Wolfie bounded up and yipped at me quietly before lapping at my face. Knowing what he wanted, I summoned Sabretooth.

The Wolfe Shade shifted from his bestial form to his more humanoid form. He hopped onto Sabretooth’s back and started her up while I provided a zap of energy directly to her frame.

With a guttural bellow and a small shockwave of chilly magic, my Giant Hunter Autocycle came to life.

“Wolfie, Sabretooth, Shadow Clones, go find me the tallest elevation you can in the area. I need a nice high spot.”

The six summons barked, purred, or saluted before breaking off to fulfill my command.

After watching them fade into the defiled landscape, I turned toward my squad as they gathered in front of me in the middle of the massacre. “Everyone, I’ll reiterate the points I made just to make sure we’re on the same page. We won’t be going to the Embassy of Defilement if we can help it. But be prepared for the onslaught to come. It will be a gauntlet.”

“I’m still curious about the help you promised us,” Veteran Sharia said.

I chuckled. “I mentioned him briefly, my Veteran Rex. But let me introduce him truly. Everyone, say hello to our third Veteran, V.”

Just as I finished, the massive one-hundred-feet tall and two-hundred-feet long magical rex appeared. He landed heavily behind me, his presence making the juniors gasp and look up in awe.

V shook his big rectangular head and let out a deep growl, his glowing orange eyes rotating down to scan all of us. The silent moment extended until Hellion broke it.

“Who do you think you are always standing so tall above our liege? Know your place and lower your head, you scaly thing!” Hellion shouted, still smooth and suave even with the faux outrage.

“I swear, I’m taking that little metal arm of yours and making it my toothpick,” V grouched before shifting his weight and jerking his body. With a loud spinal pop that struck the air like a thunderclap, the magical rex shook about and let out a grunt. Then he looked back down specifically at my gawking juniors. “Alright, you little runts, for the short time I’m here, I’ll be watching and correcting you. Same goes for you Veterans.”

“I don’t need your corrections,” Veteran Sharia growled.

“Young lady, I’d fought half-orcs on Path of the Uber Raider who were more monstrous than full-fledged monster orcs. You will receive my instructions whether or not you like it,” V grunted.

To my surprise, Veteran Sharia backed off. I supposed throwing out a Path called Uber Raider must’ve struck the right note with her. She couldn’t help but give V a few nasty looks, but she didn’t openly challenge him further.

“Can I ride him?!” Redfang squealed.

“No,” V grunted.

“Please!” Redfang begged, giving the rex puppy dog looks.

V’s frown remained the same. “No.”

Before the half-gnoll kept pestering the Veteran Rex, Wolfie and Sabretooth made their return with the Shadow Clones. I ordered everyone to follow our scouts before blasting off the ground and landing on V’s head.

The big guy growled angrily up at me, but he left at that as he strode across the defiled landscape. From this vantage point, I had a better view across the filthy land.

The lakes were corrupted. The hills and mountains were corrupted. I couldn’t see a town or farmland anywhere, but I imagined the people who existed here came from elsewhere.

This was not a place that could produce a stable civilization. The defilement was too tainted for such and would either mutate Rankers or turn everyone into full-fledged monsters.

“What’s keeping your juniors from being corrupted other than the Cleric?” V asked.

“New power. Legendary. I’d already used it.”

“Ah. That explains the inferno being injected straight into my veins. No wonder I got an extra perk to my step.” V sounded amused. “Good. Good. Thanks for actually summoning me for a fight that’s worth a damn.”

The thrill I felt only grew more intense.

Even in this forsaken land, the experience of standing on V’s scaled brow was fun. His every massive footfall reverberated through his scaly body and up through my boots. When I looked over the side, I saw Merlin flying smoothly on an invisible telekinetic plane with his caster team.

Syleth waved over at me, and I waved back.

Soon enough, we reached our destination, and it turned out more perfect than I’d expected. Wolfie, Sabretooth, and the Shadow Clones had led us to a mighty plateau that was thousands of feet in the air.

However, there was a sharp incline in our way that turned into a vertical wall that looked too difficult for V to climb.

V grunted. “Screw it. All of you get on my back.”

“YAY!” squealed Redfang from below.

V lowered his tail, and the others clambered up along his spine. Merlin made a landing with his caster team on V’s head. The other Veterans along with my half-goblin knight joined my side, all curious and enthusiastic except for Thumper. The Perfect Rogue’s mind was far from here and focused mostly inward even if he wasn’t meditating yet.

“I must say, I’m not sure how our new friend V would get up this wall,” Veteran Zez said, pointing his cane up.

“With magic, of course,” V grumbled, stomping his foot.

The entire area shook, groaned, and shifted. Huge rocks fell from the wall face. Then, with a flash of superheated orange light, multiple horizontal spires of magma rock jutted out of the wall. V used the sideways spires to walk upward at an angle to the top of the mighty plateau, each step held in place by his volcanic magic.

I chuckled as some of my juniors oh’d and awe’d at my Veteran Rex’s power. If presented with my choices, some people might’ve chosen differently. I was more than happy that I’d gone with my Veteran Rex at Level 61.

Once we reached the top of the mighty plateau, everyone disembarked from V with a quick and easy-going hop to the floor. I walked over to the edge where my Path of the Slayer pointed me in a certain direction.

The magic of the Royal Quest and my desire to destroy the enemy I shared with the Dragon Princess was like a metaphysical compass that left me no room to get lost.

From this vantage point far above the ground, I saw the target of my ire. It was like a tall and dark needle, a spire-shaped home for those on Path of the Defiled Covenant.

The distance between us and the Embassy of Defilement was about thirty miles. That made the plateau several miles tall, and the Embassy of Defilement even taller.

“I’m going to get started. Wake me up if things get too dicey,” Thumper said from behind me.

I turned to nod at him. “If there’s anyone who’ll figure out the Spirit Blaze technique first, I’m putting my money on you.”

Thumper was already walking away as he chuckled in response. “Knowing who you are, it’s kind of scary hearing that. But … I’ll do my best, Arden. I’ll hate to disappoint everyone, you especially.”

As the Perfect Rogue found a spot to set himself down and face his soul, Merlin looked between me and Thumper and back. I could tell there was a major question on his tongue, but he kept hesitating to ask.

“Thumper figured it out,” I said.

“And I’m assuming Grimmy knows because of her Oath and all,” Merlin said.

“Pretty much.”

“System damn me, why am I the one struggling to figure it out? Maybe that’s what I get for being an academy dropout,” Merlin muttered.

As he griped, Sabretooth rolled over to me. Wolfie hopped off and ran over to join the Shadow Clones. The Wolf Shade and four Shadow Clones were going to scout around the area and make sure our plateau was doubly secured.

Before I got started with the first major part of the plan, an idea came to mind. I called over the shadow team and handed them some specific items with instructions on how to plant them.

“Oh, yeah, if we weren’t up against defilers, people would think we’re the bad guys,” said a funny clone.

“Heh. Heh heh. Ahahahahahaha! Yes! This is really gonna serve them right!” shouted a malicious clone.

“Um. Uh. I’m a little scared about this stuff backfiring against us. I can feel the hellish wickedness coming off it,” said a nervous clone.

“If we die, we die. It’s whatever. We’re only shadows. But that’s part of life, y’know? Everyone is a shadow of what they truly are,” said a depressed clone.

I waved the four of them off with Wolfie, especially the latter. Wolfie was armed with Thumper’s Bonded Treasure: Wolf Commander Fangs. Even with the Perfect Rogue out of play mostly, the Wolf Shade was probably the deadliest rogue element on the field.

With the four other Shadow Clones following Wolfie, I was confident those five would handle themselves well after doing the job I assigned them.

I gave my juniors a quick glance to ensure everyone was alright, injuries healed, and defilement held at bay. Kroker was already clearing a large swath of the plateau’s top with his Path Magic: Cure Corruption. It was very effective against the landscape and made our position cleaner, less defiled.

Meanwhile, V spoke one-on-one with each of the juniors.

I overheard a few conversations going over their experiences, fighting styles, and what they’d learned from the squad. He was great at listening or prompting them to explain themselves efficiently with the right questions or a quick rebuttal to guide them further. It didn’t miss my awareness that Veteran Sharia and Veteran Zez were paying close attention to the big Veteran Rex, their curiosity overweighting any sense of rivalry between Veterans.

“Are you seriously going to take on the embassy from all the way over here?” Merlin asked from my right.

I could already sense Hellion preparing a rebuttal, but my knight beat him to it.

“He’s our Lord and Savior! Of course Master Arden can!” Grimmy cheered, hopping about from my left.

Merlin puffed out another long stream of multi-colored smoke with his pipe hanging from the corner of his mouth. “Keep talking like that, Elder Grimmy, and we’ll be considered a cult ourselves.”

“Maybe we should be,” Grimmy insisted.

Merlin shook his head.

Before I pulled out the special gift for the embassy, it just occurred to me I’d forgotten something I should’ve given Merlin. The back of my neck heated up, and both the powerful half-goblin and the Legendary dwelf noticed.

“There was only one copy, and Thumper had given it to me. I forgot to hand it over while everything was happening,” I said.

“What copy? What did Thumper find?” Merlin asked sharply.

“A book on basic gravity magic with spells and enchantments.”

“Motherfucker!” Merlin roared as I pulled out the tome and handed it over to him. He cussed up a storm as he flipped through the book. “They didn’t even have gravity magic at the Final Rose or the Diamond Castle. This is the type of magic the nobles keep strictly to themselves!”

“Can I hold it?” Grimmy asked.

“Why?” Merlin demanded.

The half-goblin girl had a mischievous glint in her yellow eyes. “Just because.”

The Owl Dragon snarled at her, and the Little Fighter laughed.

Shaking my head at the two, I gave the plateau another scan.

Thumper was deep in meditation off to the side. V had gone through all the juniors and left them with words of advice. His attention shifted over to the Veterans themselves now. Wolfie and the Shadow Clones were gone from sight. Sabretooth rumbled in wait behind me.

“Everyone, get ready! It’s going to get loud!” Warning voiced, I reached into a pouch on my belt with both hands. It took some effort to yank out the twelve-foot-long Epic Rank 5 Mag Storm Cannon.

The Lever-Action Arm Cannons were both waiting on my back as their bigger and more powerful compatriot hovered in the air above me once fully removed. My elemental magic kept it aloft while I took out a few other components.

First, I used Path Energy and Slayer Intent to smooth the rocky floor in front of me until it was perfectly even. Then, I set down a heavy triangular base-plate that was just as long as the Mag Storm Cannon. There were a series of thick poles on lockable hinges that I flipped upward where I could bolt together to a joint at the bottom of the cannon.

One last piece I lodged toward the back was a different pole that was built with a suppression spring similar to the ones that Sabretooth had. Once the Mag Storm Cannon was suitably attached to the support platform, I stomped on the back of the triangular base to ensure it was dug in deep enough.

Next, I moved myself into position behind the stock and trigger housing unit. Sabretooth rolled up closer behind, one of her kickstands extended in the opposite direction while she leaned against me, her metal tail wrapped around my waist.

Merlin removed the entire crowned helmet of his Overcharger Wizard Armor to open-gawk at me.

Grimmy removed her helmet as well, her dark hair falling in a waterfall around her face. It had grown longer from the three time-dilapidated months spent in the Slayer Sanctum Second Portion. It perfectly framed the bug-eyed, mouth-agape shock on her face.

“What the hell?” Merlin muttered. “I can’t keep up with this, Arden! How do you go from being a Food Wars protagonist to being a Hellsing one! You can’t just keep being so damn unpredictable and think you can get away with it.”

I laughed. “What can I say? I’m a nomad. I like to wander around and try different things.”

“I wish I were born a nomad,” Grimmy said.

In a small voice, I said, “There are other ways than just birth,” which I knew both of them would catch.

Before they could respond, I summoned the Epic Slaughterhouse Avatar. I used the first option, with the demented avatar arriving in her humanoid phantom form, her laugh ghoulish and metallic. The hellish runes on my Mag Storm Cannon, bonded armor, and other weapons glowed a brighter red.

Thankfully, Slayer Feast made it easier for my squad to be around me despite my cursedness.

But even Merlin had to take a few steps back as I pushed my cursed nature even harder with my Great Skill: Master Warlock Sufficiency. The runes reddened further. More hellish runes appeared on the dark plateau rock around me.

The voices of demonic spirits sounded out around me, and Merlin stepped back even further and further as I brought a piece of the nearest Hell Realm into my vicinity. If I wanted, I could go as far as ripping a tear in reality for more hellish support, but that would overdo it.

Grimmy remained incorruptible and unbothered in my presence. She even smiled and laughed as the demonic spirits slithered, nipped, scratched, and acted out against her or me.

The both of us were too hardened and too powerful in our own unique ways to be harmed by the wraiths I’d summoned as I empowered myself to my peak.

Only then did I summon the last element.