Town Builder - 99 -

Chapter 99:

I spent the days leading up to the Incursion working on defenses with Jaesmin at my side. Joy and other NPC children are playing in the background. It was a chance to spend some time with them, and Jaesmin was frustrated by her slow leveling in the Crypt of the Phoenix King.

“I promise to delve with you after the craziness is all done,” I told her.

“The craziness will never be all done,” she retorted, a little unlike her. I paused as the craziness I was thinking of was actually trying to pay for a new body. I was coming closer and closer to paying back the corporation and was approaching my down payment for the new skeleton.

“After this Incursion, then,” I said resolutely.

“Can I come?!” Joy shouted from fifty yards away.

“Sure! We can find a bunny dungeon, and go into it together!” I yelled back.

“I want to level,” Jaesmin argued. Again, very unlike her. “I don’t want to do a bunny dungeon.” A bunny dungeon was the nickname for dungeons that were for first-level players.

Jaesmin was level twenty-three and was likely never going to catch up to me. Every Incursion gave me a massive boost of experience. I was hoping to gain three or four levels this Incursion. “We can do a bunny dungeon with Joy and then do another together, but with our level differential, you will not gain experience.”

“That is fine. As long as we are doing it together,” Jaesmin replied happily. I would add a few guildmates to come with us, but as long as she was happy, I was happy.

The preparation went well, and once again, for the start of the Incursion, I was in Malcum, but this time in command, as Black Beauty was in Goatyah with a token force. There was a very small chance Goatyah would get its own rift this Incursion, so we had diverted a number of players there in case it happened.

Once no rift occurred, they would race to wherever they were needed. Most of the Silver Linings Playbook Guild was in Phoenix’s Rest, as that was our most important holding at the moment. At least with the strength of the Incursions, we were fairly certain no guild would be sneak attacking us.

I received a prompt that an Incursion was imminent and quired if I wanted to use my talent, Unstable Portal I. I clicked yes and was happy to see I was only affecting two portals in Malcum and  Phoenix’s Rest. A note flashed: ‘Invading forces have been weakened by 5%.' I thought it was interesting that I could have declined to use the talent, and perhaps should have, given our defenses were so well-prepared.

In the guild chat, I sent a message, “There will be no portal in Goatyah, we can move the reserves to Phoenix’s Rest. My ability is only targeting two portals.”

“Damn good to know, mate,” Mad Dog said as he started to give orders to those in Goatyah. It was exactly one hour before the Incursion Event. Mad Dog only directed some outer members toward Malcum, along with Black Beauty. I was actually hoping to handle this Incursion myself for practice and to feel like I was doing something.

When the portal opened, staggered lines of the antmen infantry emerged first. They looked different from the videos I had watched, where each section of the wall of infantry had their chest chitin painted a different color. Behind them, a slightly taller insectoid had his entire carapace painted completely in the respective color, obviously a minor commander.

As the infantry formed up in loose lines, the buzzing beetles exited, zipping out and into the sky. Their riders had crossbows in each pair of arms and were waving them as they zipped above the infantry. The choice of weapon was new, as they had previously wielded short spears. “Levels?” I asked Tanguin as the enemy continued to assemble. When the portal was created, their was a halo around it that destroyed everything. Our traps were just outside that range if we calculated correctly.

“The sectoid warriors are level twenty. Their captains are twenty-five. The beetles look to be levels forty to forty-five, and the riders match.” I relaxed, as this was not terrible news. They definitely had numbers, but the levels were very manageable so far for the players and NPCs we had defending.

The first mantis exited, its bulbous eyes scanning in every direction and its arms an impressive scythe-like appendage. These creatures were fast and deadly. “The mantis harvesters are level fifty. Hopefully, there will not be too many,” Tanguin said with a note of concern. I lost count at fifty, but they slowed after that. It was a hard lesson one guild had learned, but you did not attack the incursion force until the general came through. Otherwise, the portal would just keep replenishing its losses.

The final unit we were expecting was the giant beetles that spat acidic volleys. They didn’t disappoint as twelve of the artillery exited. “The giant beetle spitters are level fifty as well,” Tanguin said. “It looks like they are going to hold the mantis harvesters back to protect them.”

The final creature to exit the rift was a massive ant with a glossy black carapace. “A Brood Queen. Level one hundred twenty. The black sectoid warriors surrounding her are royal guard, level sixty.” Surrounding their slow-moving queen were a dozen antmen with matching black chitin. My skill had reduced their levels by 5%, so we were lucky as the army looked formidable.

“Are they going to attack?” Someone asked.

In response, all twelve spitting beetles reared back on their hind legs, rising to thirty feet in height. The air thumped like mortar shells being fired. They spat their loads into a high arch in the air. Damn it! The arch was ridiculously high and not targeting us, but deep into the city. They splashed down, doing damage to buildings and streets as the acid spread.

“Galana! Send to healers to the civilians and make sure everyone is inside! Make sure they return to the wall as quickly as possible!” I yelled.

“Are they going to turtle and just attack from a distance?” Black Beauty asked on my side.

“That would be a problem,” I cursed. “At least there are long intervals between the artillery attacks. Bella, can you disrupt them a bit?”

The bunny girl smirked, and I think she was growing into her role. She was no longer afraid and liked being the center of attention. Players loved seeking out the fluffy, cute girl for quests, so she gained a lot of popularity on streams for her naïve-like innocence that was fading fast. Dark clouds formed overhead, blocking out the sun and causing an artificial night. Lightning danced in the clouds, illuminating the field in flashes.

Bella pointed her finger, and a thick bolt of blue lightning laced down from the clouds, striking one of the rearing giant beetles. The beetle’s head exploded, killing it, but the next bolt was stopped when the queen clapped her chitin arms together, forming a shield over her army. A glassy dome formed. “They probably can not attack through it. When they drop it Bella, attack again!”

The bunny girl was sweating as she held her spell and waited. It turned into a game of cat and mouse as the queen dropped her shield for another volley, only to lose another artillery beetle. After the third beetle was killed, the brood queen gave up and sent her infantry forward. As soon as the front row reached our first line of traps, it turned into carnage as explosions and mechanical traps triggered. The players didn’t need any more signals as they rushed the field. The expensive player-crafted traps were designed to damage, confuse, and slow. They worked extremely well as the sectoid warriors struggled to regain their footing as the player teams crashed into them.

“Send the despensible unit into the right flank and follow it up with our infantry, but keep a distance from the mantis harvesters,” I advised Tanguin. The elite blood knights raced out on foot, and I frowned. They really did need mounts to be more effective with better mobility and an added intimidation factor. Right now, the NPCs wore crimson armor with black veins running through it that shimmered in the lightning.

Bella’s clouds were dispersing, and I rubbed her furry head because I was her lord and she had done a marvelous job. Six of the giant beetles had been killed, and a seventh was injured. Although the brood queen had magic unexpectedly, everything was going smoothly. The seven blood knights clashed with four mantis reapers, and it looked like they would live, their life siphon proving very effective.

The players were finishing off the infantry, and soon the player wave would clash into the backlines. The buzzing airborne cavalry was wholly ineffective. Our ballista towers had a much greater range than their crossbows, and none got close enough to threaten the walls. Our strategy was nearly perfect for the Incursion. Even the Brood Queen thought so as she started slinking back toward the portal.

“Tanguin,” I indicated the retreating general.

“She will not escape,” he said, focusing. Most of our cavalry was in Phoenix’s Rest, so he was moving some dusk elf scouts to harass her royal guard and slow her. The players would soon swarm the giant beetles, and the day was virtually won.

Black Beauty tapped me on the shoulder, “Nice job, I think I am going to join in on the fun.” She jumped off the wall, landed softly, and raced into the melee with five guild members trailing her. I smirked. I didn’t need to join the fighting as I was collecting experience just standing here.

I checked on Phoenix’s Rest and it looked they had an army nearly twice the size of ours to deal with and about five levels higher across the board. “You are not done yet?” I teased Mad Dog through the chat.

“You can bloody well come over and help, mate!” He grunted as he must be involved in the fighting. “Our brood queen is a named monster and she royal guards and royal attendants with healing.” He grunted again. “She managed to disable most of our traps and focused her beetle attacks on our ballista towers. We lost one tower completely and the NPC manning the ballista in the other. Their damn flying cavalry is harassing us incessantly and we have very few defenses that can match their range.”

“I will send over what I can as soon as our brood queen falls,” I said soberly. I checked and was relieved to see that, although they were having trouble, no NPCs had been killed. I had lost two NPCs in the city to the first attack, so in a sense, he was doing better than I. However, rebuilding the lost ballista tower was going to be an expensive endeavor. It had been reduced to zero health, so the regeneration would not restore it.

The cleanup from the Incursion went quickly, and we overwhelmed the forces in Phoenix’s Rest when reinforcement players and NPCs portaled over. I really did need to redesign the portal stone to accommodate larger groups. Then I had to wait while my rewards were calculated by the system. I was going to receive bonuses for a complete defense in both locations since none of the insectoids escaped.

We tempered our guild’s enthusiasm in the looting as the resident player guilds played a major role in our easy victory. Shortly after the last insectoid had been killed, the notifications began rolling in. I read them one by one, smirking with each one.

Two massive, successful defenses had earned me the experience to reach level 44, and I was three-quarters of the way to 45. There was a short production and morale boost for all my towns and cities. A notification indicated that my consecutive successful defenses from incursions would increase NPC immigration until the next incursion.

Then there was the loot rolling in. Golden Storm and Sunflower were updating the guild warehouse as it came rolling in. Mad Dog started to organize a party to celebrate, but sent me a chat message, “How did you do?”

“Level 44,” I typed back.

“How am I ever going to catch you, mate!?” He replied, but I knew he was joking.

“Grind with Grinder,” I replied cheekily.

“Ugh, he only wants to grind with Mira,” Mad Dog replied.

“TMI,” I replied. I knew Mad Dog was on the cusp of claiming my demonkin huntress. I could have made moves to retain her and slow or stop him, but why spoil the man’s dreams. It was not like Mira would stop defending the Duchy.

“Going to log off for a bit after the party. See you there.” Mad Dog finished.

The party was shorter than normal celebrations as everyone had put in a lot of hours setting traps and preparing for this Incursion. It had been worth it, as the fight was one of the easiest we had. After they left, I needed to make good on my promise to Jaesmin and Joy.

I found two dungeons a few days' ride from Malcum in the human kingdom. The Haunt of the Forbidden Jungle was a level 25 dungeon, while the Desolate Maze was a level 1 dungeon. The Desolate Maze was merely a massive stone labyrinth filled with easy level one to three creatures. The best aspect of the bunny dungeon was its limit of three members per party.

The Forbidden Jungle was more challenging, featuring four tough levels, each requiring a trek through a hot, humid jungle to reach a temple that needed to be conquered. The rewards were modest, so it was not overly busy.

The next day, we left with my guard, Yorric, Simba, Black Beauty, and Reborn Apostle. After Jaesmin, Joy, and I completed the Desolate Maze, they would escort Joy back to Malcum. We rode down the trade road in good spirits until three players blocked us. I started to get nervous as my analysis skill did not work on any of them.

“They are blocking us from sending messages,” Black Beauty added. “We should run.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” the lead player said. He had a dark elven avatar and was wearing light armor, carrying a monstrous sword on his back. I wanted to make a joke asking if he was compensating, but it was definitely not the time.

“What do you want?” I asked about them. The player to his left was a human woman with Asian features and a comically large chest. The third was a fire elementalkin with shimmering red hair.

The fire elementalkin hands started to glow, but it was the human who answered in an angry voice, “Just to kill you. You are the fucker, who made the deal with game devs. Now, we are having a bitch of a time getting ourselves emancipated. The lawyers are bailing on us once they figured out your deal was reducing a likely settlement. And here you are, running your own fiefdom and paying the fucking devs damages!”

Shit, these were hardwired players like me. Blood Crisis had warned me this might happen. Most likely, they were all over level one hundred. This was not going to go well.

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