Come on Cass, where the fuck are you?
My patience waned for my promised back up fighting off the red glowing giant soldiers and their rather skilled leaders awaiting the backup I was promised. Each assumed captain would cast a rope of red mana into a squad of 4 or 5 other Porphynae giants. Every giant I'd encountered in my travels surpassed level 10, and none of these guys were any different, making their little boosts all the more annoying.
Of course, none of them were anywhere near quick enough to keep up with me, and I'd managed my mana usage well thus far. The first squad and its leader that practically sat on top of the gate lever costed me a few skill activations to allude. It had already been a few minutes of slowly picking off the weaker ones before I decided to quickly rid the lot of from outside the gate controls. I couldn't risk leaving my people out there too long, as we had no clue if they had any manned defenses or traps in place. Nor had I a clue the state of our greener troops running deception duty with the campfires set up just past the tree line facing this settlement.
The only true snag I'd hit in getting this damn gate open was after the first captain's troops were dealt with. The strings of red mana that empowered their movements all shot into the captain himself instead, pushing his speed closer to mine while his strength and toughness was WAY higher. Had my twinblade not been connected by a chain at the hilt, my first attempt to parry his slashing glaive would've launched my blade over the settlement wall.
Their notability boosted toughness was no joke either, as during that same exchange with the Porphynaen captain I whipped the blade he knocked out of my hand around my head like a lasso. The blade fortunately twisted exactly how I'd essentially prayed it would, sinking into the giant's leg and piercing out of his inner thigh. The soldier merely smiled yanking down at my chain. Had I not grown accustomed to borrowing someone else's Flow being pulled thanks to Korbin's painful training, I may have been done for then and there.
Instead, my hand clasped onto his gloves polearm under the blade and slapped it away, throwing the same elbow upward into the captain's nose. The familiar crack of breaking bones and his tear filled reeling provided ample time to retrieve and insert my twinblade into his throat and armpit, the only gaps available in his thick heavy armor. After some squirming, I dashed over to the gate controls having to dodge their archers who fired freely as their remaining infantry were still gathering across the settlement.
Which is precisely what I'd been doing ever since I opened the gate and broke the lever handle. While these giants have crazy strength, they were insanely heavy as well. After pulling the lever, one of their guards was the first to reach me after having dealt with the squad guarding the gate controls. He charged head on recklessly as most of them did, however he lacked any captain to boost his speed. A single Water Step and barrage of Flow Strikes to the back of the neck froze the angry giant, who fell limply face first through the side of the lever breaking it under his weight.
Happy accidents; one, needing to train my strength stat; zero.
The gate flung open, causing the rest of the remaining guards and soldiers in the settlement to up their sense of urgency. Apparently, one human causing mischief wasn't anything to bat an eye at for them. When their defenses fall however, now I'm a problem.
The next few engagements were spent feeling rather smug for having been thoroughly underestimated. After a couple of minutes, their forces had well and truly begun centralizing at the plaza in front of their settlement gate, still ajar. The occasional glimpse afforded outside of the gate revealed a massive force of Porphynaen's rushing back toward their home. Yet I remained the sole human warrior in the den of angry giants, slowly collecting corpses while doing my best to dodge and parry without using any skills.
My superior speed kept me out of range from too many attacks at once early on. Most of my towering adversaries wielded either a comically large sword, axe, or glaive if a captain entered melee. The majority of them failed to defend their legs, causing many to stumble over their fallen allies. The issues arose once most of their forces created a perimeter from a distance, slowly collapsing in on me from all sides.
A pair of captains pushed ahead of the otherwise hesitant Porphynae soldiers, roaring a battle cry in unison. Both had their boosting skills streaming into one another, their bodies radiating with the same intense red mana their soldiers enjoyed. Their movements were far quicker than any other captain thus far, and well coordinated at that. One giant dashed forward for a sideways slash to my skull, while the other swung their weapon toward my knee simultaneously.
Knowing better than to try parrying such powerful foes strikes, I dove between the space of their slashes with both blades at my sides. Their weapons sheathed along my twinblade's steel, my head tucking under my chest before rolling back to my feet. Another Porphynaen soldier launched a stab to my chest as I popped to my feet. His sword lunged toward my midsection vertically, my lead blade barely smacking its trajectory across my twisted torso. My second blade crossed over my body while riding my momentum around the giant, slashing into the pit of his knee.
Another soldier attacked from my side with a slash, which I handily ducked under. The clink of steel on steel from behind caused me to whip my head around, revealing my attacker had smacked his sword into the flanking captain I hadn't even noticed approaching. Twice now luck had saved my ass, something I knew couldn't be banked on much longer.
Cassi, come the fuck ON.
My twinblade slid across the much larger glaive barreling for my neck as I ducked another slash from a captain, kicking another flanking giant soldier away using Flow Inverse to make up for the strength disparity. Still not having enough juice to push them however, I ended up leaping off of their chest instead. My hip raised into the air spotting another incoming attacker, deciding to utilize the Flow in motion and converting my fall into a head kick. My shin slammed into the soldier's helm, hurting the both of us far less than I had anticipated.
An axe wizzed over my head as I fell back to the earth, rolling backwards after recognizing my poor positioning. There was a gap of space where I could gather my footing, just enough to parry the incoming glaive strike from another captain. Their polearm shifted momentum as I blocked the downward slash, slamming into my rib cage before I could deflect the metal handle. My body flung to the side from the momentum, my feet sliding across the ground as I winced hearing my bones crack reverberating through my skeleton.
Alright, fucking FINE. I'll do it myself.
The captain leapt forward for a lunging stab toward my head, a strike I easily slipped around. The captain tried the same polearm smash, his movements stunned by the blue crackling mana surging through his skull from Lightning Strike having landed before his Flow ever shifted. A puff of red mist exploded out from the gap in his helm as his body tumbled lifeless to the ground.
Porphynae captain number two's movements significantly slowed as the boost from his fallen partner dissipated, causing him to abandon his attack entirely, stopping dead in his tracks. I felt a smirk emerge across my face feeling at my utterly pummeled ribcage, the pain fueling my lust to just close the gates and deal with these oversized fucks myself.
Patience.
The loud stomping steps of the giant flanking behind me gave ample notice to slide away from their attack, spinning with my Water Step and slashing across both of their achilles tendons. They screamed in terrible agony, which I quickly cut off with a punt kick to the skull before stepping and leaping off the back of their head toward the second captain who'd abandoned his attack. They'd already casted their stupid boosting strings to another group of Porphynaen soldiers, however I showed little attention to their barbaric screams.
At a full sprint upon landing, I lifted one of my blades dramatically to show my enemy I was going to throw a slash attack. The Captain raised his polearm vertically in the air to parry the would-be strike. My grappling hook ejected from my forearm between the giant's legs as I slid around the outside of him. Planting my feet, I dashed back between his legs from his backside slicing his Achilles in half along the way. The grappling hook wrapped around his ankle as I yanked up, making the giant drop into the splits trying to fall to his opposite knee.
Spinning my twinblade in my hand to a reverse grip, I stabbed into the captain's throat from under his helm before Water Stepping away from another incoming Porphynaen soldier's strike. My grapple hook had barely retracted from around his leg before a thunderous voice echoed through the angry yells and dying grunts of the giant soldiers.
"STOP! In the name of Porphynae!" Said the mysterious voice, the remaining giants shuffling to the side revealing an older giant adorning fine robes and garments. He held a glaive like the captains, though it had blades on both ends of the polearm. He raised his arm gracefully as he spoke once more.
"Why does such a formidable warrior come to our blessed land in search of bloodshed? Have you not the knowledge upon who's grounds you intrude upon, young warrior?" The fancily dressed giant asked, in the kind of preachy political tone I absolutely attested.
"I take it you're Father Leonard?" I asked, having recalled the title mentioned by the guards when I initially 'snuck' in. The giant's eyebrow lifted curiously, his facade already breaking.
"So, you're aware of who's lands you sully, how very curious. Why have you come alone?" He asked, walking closer with every word.
"Some demigod of war trying to kill their brothers and sisters or whatever, really I could care less about a sibling rivalry that got out of hand. I want your pylon." I demanded, trying to buy just a little bit of time for Cassi.
"Oh? You wish to lay claim to our lands?" Father Leonard asked, his arms wide as he sarcastically stepped back in feigned shock. His smile grew more devious as he spoke again.
"Well, I've been watching you, dear boy. A warrior of your caliber wields both strength of body and mind. You and I both know that. Which means a smart soldier like yourself would never come here looking for a fight knowingly…alone." Leonard's head peered to the open gate, the mechanisms shifting as it began shutting on its own. No, I remember opening my own pylon gate when me and Lonni bumped into the zombies and fought that fucking wolf cat, he's closing it.
Oh shit.
"What's the matter, Warrior? Were you expecting some company?" Father Leonard asked sarcastically, the veil of holiness fully dropped as his venomous tone leaked through his words. His eyes softened before speaking in a far more affable tone.
"You are quite the skilled swordsman though, I must admit, human. Why not join our glorious Godkings family? We'd revel in a fellow giant with skills of your caliber, so long as you're willing to pledge yourself to our mighty Porphynae." Leonard offered, looking lovingly to the heavens as he spoke. I scoffed, waving him off in response.
"I'm good, my Patron's already a god. Not some poser using people like stones to hurl at their family. Next time though." I shot back, snapping my fingers and pointing at him. Father Leonard's eyes nearly popped free from their sockets as his face contorted in rage. He took in several slow breaths and straightened his posture before commanding his soldiers.
"Do try not to mangle him too badly, boys. His spirit would make a fine offering t-" the baritone shrieks of terror waving through the air near the gate completely averted Father Leonard's attention. Looking through the crowd of giants, Steve and Becky were thrashing wildly through the Porphynaen giants, biting and slapping away the massive soldiers by the twos and threes. Cassi and Phoebe along with our first 15 water Druid warriors slid under the shutting gate, charging head on for the Porphynaen soldiers.
The commotion diverted most of my surrounding giant foes' attention, allowing for a few flanking slashes to the achilles, knees, necks as I ducked and dodged to regroup with my comrades. None of the giants made it in time by the looks of things, but with their army still outside…well, I hope our Jaia Giants weren't waiting to be left in.
A barrage of fiery arrows descended around me, one Porphynaen giant's face filled with wavering flames within his helm tumbling to the ground as I passed by. Cassi and the Water Druid squad slashed and slid around the oversized warmongering giants. The Porphynae giants around me were completely out of sorts, a couple literally spinning in indecision over where they should attack. One in particular looked directly at me before turning away, only making a second take in time to watch my blade pierce through his eye into his skull with a surge of lightning mana.
Seeing the enemy numbers rapidly dwindling, I turned tails toward their beloved Father Leonard, who was already being escorted to his palace by a couple Captains. My sprint across the plaza toward their leader was intercepted by a group of Porphynae soldiers as I'd reached just outside of the palace checkpoint. Seeing as though Leonard was essentially cornered, I patiently battled through his guards not wanting to waste more mana. None of them were boosted by any red man's bullshit, their natural movements much slower and easier to read.
The first two giants swung their axes wildly, leaving themselves off balance and wide open for counter strikes. The first lunged forward, landing behind me as I slipped to the side and stabbed deep into his knee pit from behind. The second attempted a stab to my neck from the side, which glided along my twinblade as I parried their stab over my shoulder. My second blade simply extended, as their head lurched forward practically right in front of its trajectory.
My head spun to find the third and final guard, who was on both knees grasping at the flames engulfing his face. Noticing an unfitting silence hanging in the air, I turned around to find Phoebe riding on the back of Becky, snaking up with Steve beside them.
"Fucking took you long enough?!" I yelled angrily, throwing my hands in the air.
"Shut up, we ran into the local wildlife. We're just about finished up with these shitheads, let's get to the pylo-" Phoebe's words were muffled by the loud echoes of the front gate now opening on its own.
"…shit. Phoebe, you two got to stay and help Cassi. There's too many soldiers coming through for them to handle alone." I called out to Phoebe urgently, pointing at her and Becky. She nodded before Becky spun around and headed toward the opening gate to support our troops from the looming army that awaited. Steve was about to take off too when I yelled after him.
"Wait STEVE! I need a ride over this fence. But you gotta come back and help everyone here, got it?" I commanded, pointing at his tail for a patented Tom tail fling.
"Tom, just get on my back." Steve responded in a monotone as he swooped under my legs and lifted himself in the air with his wings. He flew up and over the flaming fence line that stood over 12 feet high, flicking his head away from the palace. The energy rippled down his body, which I ran down before diving off, tucking and rolling on the other side of the fiery checkpoint.
Looking back, Steve had just touched down on the opposite side, headed back toward the gate. Not wanting to waste any more precious time, I beelined for the palace in search of their precious Father Leonard. There were a couple guards standing in the ready position outside of the front entrance holding the only shields I'd seen any of their giants use other than the large bracer guards.
Not interested in engaging, my eyes locked onto a guards post just outside an open doorway three levels higher up the palace. My grapple launched from my wrist as I leapt up to maximize my extension, unsure if my hook line would reach. The metal prongs latched around the stone guard wall, my arm yanking hard to pull myself as I willed the grapple to retract.
My feet clapped against the palace's stone face one story higher before sprinting up pulling myself along the grapple line. My feet pressed off the stone as I approached the wall my hook latched on, my hands grasping onto the edge pulling my body onto the platform. The door in front of me led into a massive L-shaped hallway. Choosing the path that led toward the center of the palace, I darted down the lawn hollow corridor until coming upon a seemingly endless set of winding stairs.
Fuck that.
Looking up, I fired my grappling hook to its max range latching it to the rails, then willed it to retract. There was far less effort involved in tugging my own body weight now than when I'd first used it, causing me to zip upward between the staircase before grabbing onto the rails. Hopping over, I ran the rest of the way up, slowing my pace reaching the doorway at the top.
Within the large room overlooking the ensuing battle between my much smaller forces and his army, now bottlenecked at the settlement entrance. Father Leonard sat at a desk, with two Porphynaen Captains standing on either side of him.
"Pity, I was hoping you would've brought friends." Leonard said, standing from his seated position. His shoulders shrugged, removing the fine silk garments that flowed loosely on his body. His thick dark red and black hide armor now covered his chest and arms to the elbow, his double sided glaive in hand.
"I think I'll be plenty enough for this one, old timer." I said, stepping forward alerting his Captains to raise their weapons. Leonard extended his arm, gesturing for them to lower their simple glaives.
"You sure are a confident one, even with your friends facing insurmountable numbers. Which leads me to believe I was incorrect in my assessment of you earlier..." Father Leonard said, as his double bladed glaive began exuding a burgundy mist. He twirled the polearm in his hands smoothly, then abruptly stabbed both of his Captains through their chest plates in rapid succession. The same dark red fog emerged from the now dead Captains bodies, their glaives burning to ashes leaking the same red energy.
A cloud of burgundy smoke clumped between the fallen Captains' bodies before absorbing into Father Leonard's sword, which grew in size and radiated with the same dark red energy in response. Leonard smirked as he spoke his final words before launching his first attack.
"You clearly know nothing of the power our great Godking Porphynae has bestowed. Allow me to enlighten you, ignorant little man."